#novie

*~*

The next time you saw her, you were Accepted and had free access to the library. And, Light, were you using it. Your table was high with books. 

“I’m impressed,” came the even comment. 

Despite the lack of ceremony in her appearance, you still screamed, tossing a book in the air at the shock. You caught the damn thing as it fell, and huffed, staring down the Blue shawled woman. 

She was smirking at you, clearly amused. She looked you up and down. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” 

“Y-you have?” you stammered out. 

Her wicked amusement spread her lips wider, somehow staying put together and so very above you with her basic reaction. “Oh, yes. Youngest Novitiate to ever reach Acceptance?” She slinked closer to you. You weren’t sure you minded. “How could I not be curious?” 

You looked back and forth behind her. “By never being in the Tower except a few days every several months? I... um, didn’t think it was that interesting.” 

Long fingers trailed across your cheek. She was officially in your personal space. “I find you.. very interesting,” she admitted lowly, sparking something low in yourself. She stepped away quickly, lifting the book in her arms to read the title. “Convening with Souls within the Wheel. That’s very advanced for an Accepted such as yourself. Not planning on practicing a onerous craft on our own, are we?” she teased. 

You took the book from her. “Not yet.” You replaced it at the bottom of the pile. “Just mastering theory for now.” 

She trailed back up your face, cupping your chin. She stared scrutinizingly before releasing you. “I believe you. Smart girl, focusing on theory.” 

You looked toward your books. “Thank you,” you mumbled. 

She followed your gaze, amusement lighting up her features once more. She slowly oozed her way into the nearby seat. “Well, I suppose we best get to work.” She picked up a simpler text, flipping through the pages. “Is Reneth still insisting Wards must be held from within?” she asked. 

You giggled. “I asked about tethering and she stared like I had eight heads.” 

Moiraine Sedai smiled over at you, without your knowledge as your head was buried in a book already. She ventured a bet on White. 

*~*

It took forever, but you finished all the notes you felt you needed on these books. Moiraine Sedai had left hours ago, possibly put out by your silence. You felt that couldn’t possibly be it because she was known for being tight-lipped herself. You replaced the books, returning to your lodging before the Mistress of Novices found out you were out past lights out. Again. 

You stepped out into the hall, tiptoeing so your stupid heels wouldn’t give you away, and walked toward the back rooms at the back of the Tower. You were about half way there when something niggled the back of your neck. Your spine met your skull and that junction fuzzed aggressively. You rubbed it as if that would make it go away. When it didn’t go away, you turned in the hall. 

A sharp pain told you you were injured before your eyes took in the flash of fire and air thrown your way. 

You half turned to cover the bleeding laceration and looked back up to see another wave tidaling toward you. You stepped back quickly, watching the near-whip wip past you, scorching the wall. “Ooh,” you sang, looking over at the red-dressed Accepted coming from the shadowy corridor. “You’re gonna be in such trouble,” you continued to mock. 

She gritted her teeth at you. 

“Oh, I’m so intimidated,” you blurted sarcastically. You rolled your eyes. Two hands each clasped around your biceps. Jumping, you tried to spin to them, but found a slap to your face discouraging. You took several deep breaths. “Three against one. I bet you lot feel like badasses,” you continued to mock. 

The woman who threw the fire took your chin. 

“You know, people really like that vantage point,” you commented conversationally. You leaned forward, whispering now: “But you really don’t want to do this.” 

“You dare order me,” came the affronted claim. 

You rolled your eyes. “More of a recommendation than anything,” you mumbled. Another slap focused you. 

Her fingers dug in as she no longer cupped but held with her thumb and index fingers nearly pinching the end of your chin. “Silence. Be still and silent if you dare to lash yourself to Blue.” 

You frowned. “If I-” 

You wouldn’t have continued, but electric frissons traveled along your spine nonetheless silencing you. The hands on your arms had silver mist circling every limp you lot had. 

“You really don’t-” 

The pain came sharper now. 

Against your own desire, you cried out. You hated that show of weakness. You’d been told upon arrival that fragility was exploited in this Tower. It reminded you of home, in the twisted way you always reminisced about your tiny village in Caemlyn. But now you were surrounded by three bullies with likely more experience with their Power than you. That didn’t mean you were helpless. Your own mist mingled with theirs, deceiving them in their beliefs at the depth of their power. 

Deep in your center, the coil, the stone which had not faded not allowed itself to be forgotten was allowed to burn. The electric sting did not fade despite your silence. So, away with the silence. You allowed yourself to scream at the pain and release the burn within you. Your Power lashed out, knocking all three woman down, and somehow draining you all at once. 

Hurried footsteps were the only thing which kept you tether to the real world. It was unreal how exhausted you were. That was barely a weave, after all. Mist surrounded your attacker’s wrists, binding the unconscious girls, and your top half was lifted into someone’s arms. 

Something warm dripped down your left bicep, and your lip felt bulbous. 

Paranoid, you tried to yank away, back to freedom, but a firm hold was kind enough to keep you safe. Mumbled words calmed you and you managed to open your eyes enough to catch the flurry of blue clothing. Two shawl of the same color. 

“Easy now,” came the carefully controlled encouragement. A hand settled on your cheek. Warmed spread along your wounds, soothing something harsher. 

“-took them down with-”

“yes- bu-... exhausted-” 

Two choppy voices seemed to have a conversation around you. The second voice, technically the first and third, you recognized to belong to your favourite Blue Ajah. 

But the shocked tone belonged to someone more thoroughly stuck in your mind. “Mistr...” you mumbled before blacking out. 

*~*

You awoke in your room. 

The Mistress of Novices watched over your bed from her chair. You grumbled, turning away. “What do you remember from last evening?” 

“Jealous Reds,” you mumbled, turning into your pillow. 

“Accepted to-be Reds,” she corrected before continuing, “And?” 

You sighed. “Stopped them.” No need to make something out of nothing. You handled it. 

She didn’t speak for a moment. “I’d like you to enter the Oval Ring.” 

You glared at her through the space of air between your arm and your pillow. “No.” 

She sighed. “I know how you are-”

You sat up, suddenly wide awake. “I am not ready for the test, nor taking up the Shawl; I don’t even know which color I’m preferring; in case you haven’t noticed, my weaving isn’t quite up to par.” 

The woman rolled her eyes. She sighed your full name, something you were looking forward to changing the sur of. At least in essence. “You’ve been ready for months now, you’re just jumpy.” 

You frowned. E/c orbs trailed up and down her form, narrowed into a somehow intimidating glare. “I didn’t call for you.” 

She sighed. “No. Nor Moiraine, but she heard you and came running. I followed. For good reason too.” 

Frowning further, you puffed your chest and raised your head. “I handled it!” you squeaked defiantly. 

A smile softened her. You were good at that, strangely. “You did. And they were sufficiently cowed when they awoke. Moiraine gave them quite the thrashing.” 

You frowned, trying to remember the Blue Ajah’s appearance. You remembered the intense focus of it when you managed to open your eyes the previous night. But Aes Sedai tended to go overboard with their chosen colors and you’d suspected it had just been her. 

No, you remembered her holding you. You remembered dismissing the thought at another chilling realization. 

You touched your lip. Regularly deflate. “Shame I missed that,” you uttered softly, finally catching up. 

“I’m sure you’ll still see them on your travels today. Split up to avoid another confrontation, but powerless and significantly disheartened.” She stood, ready to leave you to your own thoughts. “Think on what I said. You’ve been ready.” 

You sighed, finger still tapping your lip.

*~*

You had seen them in the halls, scrubbing with metal cuffs binding them physically and mystically. Was it sick to get some pleasure from the view? Perhaps, but you’d never claimed sanity nor cleansed thoughts or feelings. Their glares felt more like a wet cat’s pouting, and you treated it with the same seriousness. The only weapons they had now were those unbelievably sharp claws. Poor kitties. 

You knocked on Moiraine’s door, ready to face her despite your unbelievable attraction to her. That had been quite the surprise. 

Even greater was the visage of the Blue Ajah opening the door. She brightened, if only for a moment, at the sight of you. “How are you feeling?” 

You looked side to side and she seemed to understand, gesturing you inside. Sympathetic with the new paranoia. “Less tired,” you explained in the relative safety you could sense. “Less bloody. Thank you for that.” Yes, you finally remembered the gentle healing, familiar with the sensation after a volatile start to magic. 

“Well, I couldn’t very well let that pass.” 

You resisted the urge to frown. Of course it was just her being a good Aes Sedai with three miscreants in their education. She was trying to nip that rebellious streak in the bud. “How did you know...?” You shook your head. 

“I heard your scream. Very powerful stuff. Have you considered a more subtle application?” 

You grinned. She was trying to recruit you? 

*~*

A brown shawl draped your shoulders. You were moving rooms. It felt so surreal to leave the cluster of beds in a single room you’d resided in for months. Not even a year, you’d mused. You set your box of random, crap - so mostly an empty box - on your new bed. The room was large. You felt small in comparison, a familiar feeling. It was almost like touching the Source. You didn’t want to feel that unless you were actually using your Power. 

You left the discomfort of your new quarters to find some place of true comfort. You passed two Red Accepted scrubbing the floor on hands and knees, and you resisted the urge to giggle as you always had before. They were still on cleaning duty! But you were an Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah now. No time or reason to be so childish. 

With a breathed sigh, you reveling in the smell of your surrounding books. You wandered up the staircase in the back corner, unlocking the top level - fenced off by a railing and a spell on the stairs to keep non-Browns out. You let the One Power drip from your fingertips, onto the stone leading up, and felt the spell dissipate for a time. You left the stairs, you feel on the solid ground of a second story, and the stairs were enchanted once again. 

You wandered among the new texts, a new world opened to you. Oh, the places you could travel without leaving. And the places you could leave to for new texts. You grinned up at the shelves and shelves before you. 

“I might’ve known,” came the level call up to you. 

You smiled despite yourself. Trying to be a serious Aes Sedai, you looked over at Moiraine Sedai over the railing and down below. 

She held up a bottle. “Not the Blue Ajah, but at least it wasn’t Red.” She nodded her head down behind her. 

You followed quickly, discarding your thoughts on the spell as you wandered back down the steps. It only worked going up anyway. You approached the Blue Ajah and laughed, “You’re back.” It was a useless comment, but hugging her was a delight. Anytime she returned to the Tower, the two of you would talk for hours. Not even about magic or Tower politics. She’d tried once and you grimaced through the whole thing, not sure what you could or couldn’t say. These were full Sedai you, an Accepted, would be talking about behind their back. More than that, you didn’t want to talk shop. You wanted to know about her and you made that clear. Somehow, that impressed her and you’d visited together ever since. Sometimes, when she needed a bit of near-town help, she’d send a message to you and you could sneak away. More often than not, it was an excuse to drink more together. 

Everyone thought you were going to be a Red when a man had hit on you at an event held by the Tower and you’d thrown him across the room. Deeply scolded, you’d soon been cornered by Liandrin Sedai and nearly recruited until those Reds attacked you. Then, everyone was sure you’d be a Blue based on the amount of time you went missing when Moiraine was in town. Brown had been a surprise to everyone but Moiraine. Even if she’d still lost the bet. 

She put the bottle and cups down behind her and reciprocated the hug. When you pulled back, she held your face and brought your lips to her. You froze for half a second before you felt it. The older woman’s warmth, even on her inside, spread throughout you and your inside. Blood went racing with a new heat. Your face was sure to be flushed. You brought one arm up behind her neck and held the two of you closer together. Her hands found your lower back, pulling you closer. Both of your heads swapped direction and her tongue grazed your lip. You gasped at the feeling of her wet muscle and she took the acceptance. And, man oh man did she work with her new vantage point. Your legs nearly gave out beneath you. 

Feeling the reaction, of course she felt it, Moiraine pulled back. You whimpered at the coldness her distance brought. Like a stab wound. She smiled down at you, amused as ever by your reactions. “Show me your new rooms.”