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Post by TK on Dec 3, 2004 17:49:38 GMT -5
Smiling smoothly to herself, Sherique al'Amindill strode the last few spans to the great door, engraved in gilded hawks as it was. Her skills of mediation - debate, specifically - were easily her most prided skills, and what she could not dominate in sheer strength in saidar, she easily made up for with her skills in negotiating. Had she been part of the embassy with Gendowin do Yevendole a'Tanth and Pertova Gerantt, she could have easily worded herself to the leading position, despite Gendowin's reigning strength and age. Had Artur Paendrag Tanreall been more minor of a noble, perhaps three sisters would have been justified. Perhaps.
After exchanging a few hasty words with the guards, Sherique strode into the throneroom. It was gaudy, most certainly enough to satisfy even the most haughty of people. She eyed the pikemen with their gleaming weapons, and began to almost wish she had bonded a Warder in her two years as Aes Sedai.
"King Artur Paendrag Tanreall, recognized under the Light's radiance as the most honourable and esteemed King of Shandalle," Sherique said, layering on her veneer of serenity with all the skill she had accumulated in those years as Aes Sedai. "I come to speak with you, the Light and yourself willing, on behalf of the White Tower and the Keeper of the Seals of Tar Valon, the beloved keeper of the Amyrlin Seat." Even the most elegant of mediators could find themselves vulnerable in the presence of a man; they too often discarded logic for incivil braun. She had best make this terse. "In these days of mourning, let me say that the Light shall illumine the memory of your parents--" Light, but she could not remember whether they had passed away days or years ago! "--in many years to come. We would also like to present you, King Paendrag, as a guide. Let the White Tower be your shining beacon, your guide through these times and the times ahead, and may peace be upon us all in these days." That last part she had to splutter, however. It was as if an inexplicable force was compelling her to surrender the White Tower. Light, but how odd was that!
She looked about, the height of the guards suddenly become the more apparent. Light, though she prided here skills in debate and mediation, she sometimes felt as if she'd give them up for Pertrova's Talent for Spinning Earthfire or Gendowin's knowledge of combat.
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Post by irishdragonlord on Dec 3, 2004 20:54:47 GMT -5
((Time to speed things up  )) So, another Aes Sedai. How he wished Amaline were here again; he couldn't play Daes Daemar very well; true, he was royalty, but he was also minor royalty. And now Aes Sedai got thrown in. If he took an Aes Sedai advisor, all that would do is give the White Tower all the information they needed about Braendar. Something inside him told him that could not happen; his reason told him the White Tower would have his head on a pike for damage to two sisters, caused by him as far as they were concerned. True, he could take one as a sign of trust, but only a fool would do that now; he was entangled with this boy. Light, but why couldn't he make himself believe it was the threat of the White Tower's vengeance? He was spared, however. A breathless man came running in, and made a bow that almost made his head touch the floor; not out of respect, but from exhaustion and lack of strength. "Sir," he gasped. "A False Dragon... in Darmovan... he's taken it over, and the Shadow Coast." He looked at Artur with wide eye; a moment later he gave a start at the ageless features of his guest. "Aes Sedai," he murmured, more fearfully than respectfully. Artur grasped the chance to avoid an answer; he did have a question, however. "Why does a false Dragon so far away concern me?" he asked. A False Dragon was great news indeed, but there were always the fools every ten or twenty years proclaiming themselves the Dragon Reborn. It couldn't be as if another Yurian Stonebow had arrived. The messenger seemed far too afraid; could it be another Yurian? "Fighting has already started in Dal Calain," he said. Artur suppressed a hiss. That was an entire country over, he knew, but still far north. This "Dragon's" influence may be very bad indeed. "He has taken Darmovan, and it appears he just recently proclaimed himself; now the Shadow Coast has sword fealty, and his armies are marching north and west." Artur stood. He wondered how much that diversion was worth, now. "Aes Sedai," he said, reaching the required tones of respect. "I appreciate your kindness and your offer, but now I have a certain matter on my hands. If you would be so kind..." Obviously this was the perfect time for her to "advise" him, but his mind was at work. A False Dragon, reaching so far and fast; time to begin planning. He watched until the Aes Sedai was long gone, and then began his long discussion with the messenger. ((An Aes Sedai would leave 'cuz he's ta'veren... right? ^-^;; ) |
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Post by TK on Dec 3, 2004 21:09:21 GMT -5
Bowing in acquiescence, Sherique sped from the throneroom, eager to obey. It was not until she closed the gilded door behind her that she realized how much of a fool she was! It was the perfect opportunity for her skills, and she shied away without effort! Could the year in recluse really softened her that much?
Staring ahead, she saw Pertrova speeding down the hall in her direction. Gendowin was in her wake, pallid and weak as she was. There was something... something lifeless about the woman. "It slipped my mind, Sherique," she said, arm stretched forward, "of the best way to deal with this little problem that you've managed to pose."
Letting out a gasp, Sherique felt the woman's hand clench around her throat. She was suspended in a blazing inferno for a moment, and then... and then...
"By the Creator," Sherique whispered, tears welling, "you've bonded me."
Something began to drift over Sherique then, like a veil slowly being lowered over her vision. It was the powers of compulsion that came with the Warder bond, the Grey realized, and she felt the world slowly being masked from her...
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Post by Crystal on Dec 3, 2004 21:09:22 GMT -5
The threads slipped, and the pillow blew apart in a shattering blast of Fire.
Ariena, crouched at a far corner of the room, hastily pulled threads of Air and Water to subdue it. Light, but the infirmary was a mess now. Feathers and exploded bits of wood covered the place, and several well-marked gouges on the wall as well. She wondered what kind of trouble she'd have explaining to the king what she had been doing. Still, she had made progress. She could undo any weave of Water and Air with ease now, and even a few of Spirit. Earth was her weak point, though.
As the smoke and ashes cleared a little, she blinked in surprise.
The force of the explosion had blasted a hole through the wall.
Oh Light, this could not be good.
Through it there was someone stirring. She made her way cautiously toward the hole in the wall and peered through at someone too huge to be fully human.
Ariena had seen Ogier before, at the White Tower, but she was always taken aback at their immense size. She wished she was taller suddenly. This particular one blinked at her, his ears twitching slightly. Then he rose to his feet.
"Welcome. I am Yuilon son of Hoin son of Unlian, and I'm not a Trolloc, for your information."
"I'm Ariena," she introduced herself a little weakly.
Yuilon cocked his head to one side. "A woman who can channel. That would mean you are Aes Sedai. I don't mean to tamper in your affairs, but could you fix up that hole a little?"
She squinted at the rubble. "I don't think so, Master Ogier. It wouldn't be very easy."
"A pity," he sighed.
"What's an Ogier doing in Artur Paendrag Tanreall's palace?"
He scratched his head with one shaggy, huge hand. "Just passing through, and Artur Paendrag - the king, I suppose I should say - was kind enough to take me in. I was making my way to another stedding. When I was younger I was hasty enough, going out into the world. It's been a long time since I visited some of my friends there, almost two hundred years."
She nodded, pulling whatever Aes Sedai serenity she could manage in to cover how stunned she was. "Where is the stedding you wish to go to?"
"Stedding Tsofu," he replied slowly.
"Where?" she prompted.
"I believe you humans call it the Aiel Waste. Odd name, that, but almost appropriate."
Ariena just wanted to get out of Farendal, and she was all too aware she couldn't do it on her own. An Ogier... an Ogier and a Waygate that could get them far enough away...
Her lips curved in a subtle smile. "So when will you be leaving, Yuilon?"
The Ogier blinked. "Well, I was leaving today."
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Post by TK on Dec 3, 2004 21:31:22 GMT -5
Blood and ashes! What was that sound?
Breaking into a run, Leun hurried down the hall, completely abandoning his notion of finding al'Taren. It had sounded like an explosion! He burst through the door of the infirmary, only to see it charred and blown to shreds.
"What... wha--"
He cut off his speech at the site of the looming beast standing abreast with Ariena. Staring up at the creature, Leun seemed to lose all words. At last, they seemed to come to him. "What in the bloody, flaming Pit of Doom are you?"
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Post by Crystal on Dec 3, 2004 21:33:04 GMT -5
Ariena grinned. "Leun, this is Yuilon. He's an Ogier. And I think we're leaving today. Should we pick up Braendar on the way?"
She could sense his shock through the bond, and laced through it, something else, something she didn't understand. Some emotion that made her feel.... odd. Fear, concern maybe? That must be it. Concern over the shredded state of the infirmary. She tried to shrug it off.
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Post by TK on Dec 3, 2004 21:35:33 GMT -5
Leun gulped. Light, but... but... an Ogier? Pictures didn't manage to convey the true appearance of an Ogier a whit!
"Let's go and get him, then," Leun said weakly, his voice high and wary.
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Post by irishdragonlord on Dec 4, 2004 8:14:22 GMT -5
Braendar strode down the halls, trying to remember where anything was. Small chance he would be going anywhere besides the White Tower right now. The cynical thoughts weren't improving his mood.
He strode into the throne room, through the main entrance, and stopped dead. The King was having a conversation with a frail looking man in simple woolens, who seemed about to collapse from either exhaustion or fear, or maybe both. He reeked of it.
Just as he was backing back into the hall, Artur Paendrag spotted him. "Ah! Come here, Braendar," he said, waving his arm emphatically to stress the point. Braendar immediately started walking forth; he would have stopped once he realized what he was doing, but the King had summoned him.
"Are you aware that another Aes Sedai has come to the palace?" there was something in the King's voice Braendar would have normally called fear or franticness, but now it seemed... excited. Eager, even.
"Aes Sedai...?" He said, gouging the words in his head. "Aes Sedai?!" That was more of a shout, really. A high-pitched one, at that.
Paendrag nodded. "Yes. It appears the first two you... found... in the forest were a Red and Green Aes Sedai, and the new arrival is a Gray." He smiled. An emotionless smile, intended to gouge his reaction. Like that would work.
"Light, no! A Red?! But the White -" so the smile worked. He was blathering now. The King of Shandalle merely nodded.
"Braendar, this man here...ah..."
"Boric," replied the frail little man. "Your Majesty," he added on hastily. It really had been forgetfulness; this thing was scared stiff!
"Yes," said the King, clearly shaking it off, "Boric here has brought me news of a certain False Dragon by the name of Guaire Amalasan. He has taken Darmovan, Elan Dapor, and the Shadow Coast, and his armies are now marching north and west."
Braendar stared blankly at the King. That seemed to happen often of late. "But... what...? Why do I need to know this?" Did that have to be a splutter?
"Because," said Paendrag, his smile now that eager-frantic combination, "I am sending an army against him." The smile widened.
Again, the stare. Again, the splutter. But this time he noted that that was no answer for what he had asked, and stated as much, if in different words.
"Braendar, you are going with them."
This time the spluttering was forgotten. The stare, however, increased tenfold. "I will what?!" he croaked. He couldn't be serious. He couldn't be! He was hardly halfway to his fifteenth year!
Artur Paendrag Tanreall gave him a condescending smile. Condescending! "You aren't going to fight," he said, as if the most obvious thing in the world, which Braendar noted it may have been, but if not for that, what? "You are simply going to train to fight, and learn to be a soldier." That seemed reason, if flimsy. But a soldier?
"Ah... why?" asked Braendar, his voice cracking at the end.
"Traditionally, members of the royal family in Shandalle train around the age of sixteen to learn combat and the tactics of war so as to not rely on guards or generals fully when they ascend the throne. You are not royal family, but you are under my custody, and it seems this is the perfect oppurtunity." Clearly, the man was mad.
"But... ah... Your Highness... I am only fourteen," he said, grasping at straws.
"The earlier the better!" shouted the King. Not mad; clinically insane. The messenger clearly thought as much, and, with a hasty bow and "By your leave," left without the King's leave. Quickly.
"Of course, you won't be with the common soldier," continued the King, as if the were common practice. Common practice! Hah! "You will stay with my generals and go with the army; you will not go everywhere, of course, and partake in no battles, but whenever the army is simply moving from place to place and you are, say, in a town or peacetime or whatnot, you will learn from them."
Braendar couldn't believe this. This was ridiculous! He had to put his foot down, and now. "Yes, your Majesty," he said with a bow. As soon as he saw only the floor his face turned sheet-white. What had he just said?!
Artur nodded - actually, his head had more of a spasm. "You may go now," he said. Braendar didn't even want to argue with that one; he left the way he came and closed the door behind him. As soon as he was sure the door was firmly shut, he slid down and sat staring. What had he said?
***
All was going to plan. No Aes Sedai could trace him now; except... well, the bounty hunters would be on their way shortly, with three purses of gold. Each. Anything to get them away; then he may take an advisor. May.
He sat in his throne, the Three Golden Hawks of Shandalle pointing left, right, and center in a row at the top, seeming to watch over the ruler. Artur cackled. He didn't need protection now; even the Aes Sedai would be no problem. He mirth faded quickly, however. None of those hawks looked back.
((This is my longest post made on any board ever!!! WH00T! ^_^ ))
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Post by Crystal on Dec 4, 2004 9:33:16 GMT -5
Ariena had thought that Braendar might faint at first from the sight of Yuilon. She had almost been looking forward to it, after Leun's reaction. But the boy didn't even seem to notice the Ogier. He was sheet-white, and not seeming to see any of them, in fact.
"Braendar?" she said tentatively when he walked right past them in the narrow hallway.
They would leave with Yuilon, that very day. Maybe they could accompany him some way to his stedding or something.... But they would leave that very day, and that was good enough for her. Farendal was still too close to the White Tower, and they had lingered more than long enough. Hopefully she and Leun could talk sense into the boy.
"Braendar!"
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Post by irishdragonlord on Dec 4, 2004 9:39:41 GMT -5
Ariena thought Braendar was going to faint at first from the sight of the Yuilon. But the boy didn't even seem to notice the Ogier. He was sheet-white, and not seeming to see any of them, in fact. "Braendar?" she said tentatively when he walked right past them in the narrow hallway. Their plans had been laid. They would leave with Yuilon, and they would leave that very day. Hopefully she and Leun could talk sense into the boy. "Braendar!" "Braendar?" False Dragon? And he was going to be sent with the army chasing him? After Leun he had less fear of men channeling, but a False Dragon? Who now ruled Darmovan, Elan Dapor and all of the Shadow Coast?! "Braendar!" He jumped at his name being screeched at him. He turned around, regaining his senses. Or so he thought. An enormous, grinning Trolloc was standing next to Ariena and Leun. Now, a giant Ogier. He began to giggle. Stupid False Dragons messing with his head. Hah. Hah ha! When he realized he must look like an idiot - which he very well was - he walked over and looked up at the Ogier. Very up. And poked his button. "Hee hee... I'm dreaming, that's all." He grinned broadly. "Who would've thunk? A False Dragon! A man who can channel!" He looked at Leun. "No offense," he said. Leun was ok, because he didn't..."Owns Darmovan, Elan Dapor, and the Shadow Coast, doncha know. Flies too, I'll bet. And guess what? I get to go kill him!" He fell on the ground, laughing his head off. Now that was rich - kill a False Dragon! HAH! ((Just to clarify - I don't mean for Braendar to go and kill Amalsan He's just lost it  )) |
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Post by Crystal on Dec 4, 2004 9:46:55 GMT -5
What under the name of the Light?
Was the boy mad?
He walked up to Yuilon and poked a button.
Poked a button!
"What are you talking about?" she snapped. Chasing false Dragons? She dropped to her knees and grabbed Braendar by the front of his tunic, hauling him to his feet with difficulty - Light, he was young, but she was SMALL. "Braendar, this is Yuilon. He's an Ogier."
"I must say," Yuilon rumbled slowly, "I've never heard of this behavior in humans. Most intresting. Do you think..."
"Not now, Yuilon, please," she almost begged. Burn you Leun, say something! "Braendar, we're getting out of here. Today. Can you get out of Farendal?"
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Post by irishdragonlord on Dec 4, 2004 9:52:44 GMT -5
What under the name of the Light? Was the boy mad? He walked up to Yuilon and poked a button. Poked a button!"What are you talking about?" she snapped. Chasing false Dragons? She dropped to her knees and grabbed Braendar by the front of his tunic, hauling him to his feet with difficulty - Light, he was young, but she was SMALL. "Braendar, this is Yuilon. He's an Ogier." "I must say," Yuilon rumbled slowly, "I've never heard of this behavior in humans. Most intresting. Do you think..." "Not now, Yuilon, please," she almost begged. Burn you Leun, say something! "Braendar, we're getting out of here. Today. Can you get out of Farendal?" Braendar giggled. Ogiers! "Of course I can!" he said, as if talking to a three-year-old. "I'm going after Guaire Amalasan - the Dragon Reborn!" He laughed. "Paendrag's sending me to train in the army," he explained. His senses seemed to be coming back; at least now he was speaking truth. He took a deep breath. "There's three Aes Sedai here, one of them Red, the others Green and Gray -" yes, senses were back - "and Paendrag told me that I'd be training in the army he's sending after the False Dragon. I don't know what he planned for you two." He stared up at the Ogier. He seemed to have a contemplating look on his face, and the beginnings of a grin. Time to save whatever face he could. "Hello," he said, gently pushing Ariena off and making a bow. He cracked a wry grin; at least he hoped it looked wry as opposed to worry. "There's a False Dragon on the loose; that can do things to people's minds. Sorry if I seemed... strange." False Dragons, and Aes Sedai. And chasing False Dragons while being chased by Aes Sedai. |
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Post by Crystal on Dec 4, 2004 9:59:41 GMT -5
Yuilon looked very intrested indeed. "Hmm. I have never... made a study on your kind before. Intresting creatures, humans. I must ask you some questions later... it never does harm asking, no." ((I'm going to wait for TK here. If he doesn't post I'll him until he does.)) |
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Post by irishdragonlord on Dec 4, 2004 10:02:09 GMT -5
Yuilon looked very intrested indeed. "Hmm. I have never... made a study on your kind before. Intresting creatures, humans. I must ask you some questions later... it never does harm asking, no." ((I'm going to wait for TK here. If he doesn't post I'll him until he does.)) ((Lol - works for me. )) |
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Post by TK on Dec 4, 2004 10:10:06 GMT -5
All words seemed to have left Leun at this point, for if the appearance of an Ogier was shocking enough, al'Taren's behaviour was the equivalent of all of Yuilon's parents, siblings and cousins just waltzing past them. Light, but he would not be surprised if the Dark One's taint had permeated his wolf ability. He would almost be relieved. That, at least, would explain something.
"Al'Taren..." If the king really had ordered al'Taren off with the soldiers, then there truly would be no hope in persuading him otherwise. He would be safe from Aes Sedai around so many soldiers, true, though that was no place for Leun. "So this is it? You're going?"
A parting of ways? Light, but he couldn't desert Ariena off to the Aiel Waste. Besides, there'd be safety from the White Tower in Stedding Tsofu. He had to go.
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