The room full of novices yawned.  It was time for another boring 
lecture class with perhaps the dullest person in the White Tower, at 
least from their perspective.  Like apprentices in all times and places, 
novices spent most of their time doing petty tasks to reinforce their 
position as bottom of the heap, but they did get to learn things too.  
The White Tower strives to do more than just teach women to channel--it 
teaches them about the world and about what to do with their abilities in 
the world.  

      This meant that one of the important aspects of their training was 
ethics.  Once a week, they would gather in the classroom on the fifth 
floor and one of the white sisters would come and talk about ethics.  
There were four white sisters who rotated this duty, known to the 
students informally as "the mean one, the boring one, the really boring 
one, and the one who talks too fast."  They had real names, but since 
calling them by name was a good way to end up in the kitchen scrubbing 
pots, they hardly ever referred to them by their real names.

     This time, it would be "the really boring sister" who would be 
teaching them.  Like almost all white sisters, she almost seemed to 
radiate cold as she swept into the room, but it was a gloomy cold, rather 
than a triumphant one.  She had never even been seen to smile in triumph, 
let alone from joy.  Her voice was usually a monotone, unless she grew 
irritated, at which point just a hint of venom leaked through.

     She stood behind a podium upon a table, not that she needed it, for 
she never spoke from notes.  The novices fell quiet, practicing the art of 
appearing alert while their minds wandered off thinking about more 
pleasant things, like being beaten with a stick.  Certainly more pleasant 
than another abstract lecture about duty.

     The sister looked out upon the classroom, noting which ones were 
basically lost in space, which ones were paying some vestige of 
attention, and a single student who actually seemed alert.  She noted 
that student in her mind...potentially she might be headed for the White 
Ajah one day...or at least she was both polite and a good faker if not.

     "So what did Sister Alviarin tell you about last time?"  the white 
sister asked.

     "Why our devotion to the tower should be absolute, in relation to 
the philosophical writings of Hugo the Blind, who was the warder of Katya 
Sedai in 102 NE,"  said the one alert student, a young borderlander with 
hair down to the middle of her back.

     "Something about trust too..."  another student said, frowning and 
staring at the ceiling as if perhaps the answer was written there.

     "Ah yes.  All very abstract, I suppose..."

     "Yeah.  I mean, yes, Sedai.  It was very abstract,"  another student 
said.  "I can't ever see how we're supposed to apply any of this 
stuff...It seems like a waste of our time...uh..."  She paled.  Maybe if 
I'm lucky they'll only beat me a few times, she thought.

      To her surprise, the white sister sighed and nodded.  "I sometimes 
wonder if Alviarin Sedai ever actually thinks about how one is supposed 
to actually apply her philosophy...Let me give you a concrete situation, 
and see what you think the ethical questions involved were."

     The students blinked and wondered if this was all some kind of dream.

**************************************************************************

Give me your trust, said the Aes Sedai

by 

John Biles

A work of fanfiction set in the world of the Wheel of Time Series, by 
Robert Jordan. 

***************************************************************************

     Jinai was a Borderlander once.  He had been born in Fal Dara, in 
Shienar, a twin, with a sister he hadn't seen in twenty years.  She 
thought he was dead.  He only wished he was.

     His hair was starting to grey now.  He had long abandoned the hair 
styles of his homeland, for that of his new home, Murandy.  Now his hair 
was short and covered all of his head, along with a beard and a 
moustache.  His body still screamed warrior of the Borderlands, though.

     He looked like he'd been carved from a tree trunk.  His body was 
built like a barrel, and his arms and legs still had well defined 
muscles, despite the fact that he was nearly fifty now.  

     His neighbors knew little of him, except that he was an honest 
dealer, a quiet man who stayed on his farm with his wife, his brothers, 
and his children.  Bandits stayed clear of the area.  The last group of 
bandits that had tried to raid his farm were found with their bodies 
strewn in pieces along the road.  

     No one knew for sure he was responsible, but they didn't want to 
risk that he was.  They told stories about him.  Some thought he might be 
an aiel in disguise, others that he was a nobleman in hiding.  None quite 
reached the truth of the matter.

     He sat now in his dining room, such as it was, with his wife Eile, 
his daughter Mayle, and his brother Janis, and some guests.  Janis was a 
year older than him, and unmarried.  He looked much like Jinai, except 
for the scar on his right hand, an extra inch in height and a wrinkle or 
two more.  

     Eile was a year younger than him, but looked half his age.  She was 
still fair of face and form, though he remembered her glory of years gone 
by, and knew this was but the shadow of the beauty she had had, or might 
have again, if it had been worth the effort of beautification for these 
guests.  They loved each other with a fire that had sustained them 
through many years, especially in the years since their mutual disgrace 
and exile here.  She was Taraboner, with hair like honey and bronzed skin.
Now she wore a simple dress of peasant homespun, where once she had worn 
velvet and lace.

     Mayle had grown older since last he saw her.  She wore the white of 
a novice, and had for the last four years since she had been tested and 
taken away.  He had hated them for that, for taking his daughter from 
him, but he had said nothing.  Deep down, he knew that it was for her own 
good, no matter how much he despised them now.  She had the talent, 
stronger than her mother had possessed it, and she needed the training, 
or she would burn herself out one day.  Her mother couldn't teach her.  
Not well enough.  

     Even so, they'd had to restrain him last time.  He hadn't seen an 
Aes Sedai in four years.  He'd have been happy never to see one again.  

     Unfortunately, there were now two Aes Sedai and three warders 
sitting in his living room.  There was nothing he could do...getting an 
Aes Sedai to go away before she wants to is as difficult as trying to 
empty the ocean with a spoon.

      One of the sisters was white, the other was green.  Making this 
harder was the fact that the white sister was his wife's cousin.  They 
hadn't seen each other in four years either, and they had much to talk 
about.  While he, his daughter, and the warders sat silently and stared 
at each other, Dorine Sedai (the green) and Patri Sedai (the white) 
rattled on about their relatives, people Eile had known in the tower, 
world politics, the recent fireworks display in Tarabon, the elevation of 
a new Amyrlin seat in the wake of the Aiel War, the rumors of war between 
Tear and Illian again, and many other matters great and small.

     He noticed that several times his daughter tried to say something, 
and was simply ridden over by the conversation, or fell silent before 
uttering more than a syllable.  His wife spoke some, but mostly the two 
Aes Sedai spoke at her, while she uttered encouraging words, or asked a 
few simple questions.  It took all the self-control imbued by his 
upbringing and his old training to restrain himself.  That and the three 
huge men who sat, weapons at their belts, and listened to the 
conversation, watching him while trying to look like they weren't.  

     He recognized one of them, who had just finished his training when 
Jinai...ceased to be associated with the tower.  Jinai strove to banish 
the memory.  It was over.  There was nothing he could do about it.  That 
had been twenty years ago, when he was still young, and there was still 
hope.  No, to say there was no hope in Jinai's life would be to 
exaggerate.  His son was his hope, now.  His son would not see the things 
he had seen, but neither would he suffer as his father had suffered.

     It amazed Jinai that his own son had taken to farming so well.  Not 
that Dornar had ever known any other life.  He had been born on the farm, 
raised on the farm, and might well die there.  Yet until his father had 
come to Murandy, not a member of his family had even touched a hoe in 
generations.  His wife had to teach them both what to do and when to do 
it.  She had grown up on a farm, before...when she was young.  

     They had both had to start over.  That his brother had chosen to 
come with them amazed him and gratified him more than he could ever 
express.  Janis hadn't had to leave.  Nothing had happened to him.  There 
were no stains on his record.  Yet, he had chosen to come and help them 
find a reason to go on living, and with his help, they had.

     He wondered again why Janis hadn't gotten married yet.  His brother 
had had several love affairs with some of the local women, but he had not 
tied the knot.  Maybe he just doesn't want children, Jinai thought.  
They're a blessing, but  they can be a pain too, at times.

     Dornar was out working in the fields right now.  The Aes Sedai were 
supposed to stay over night and leave tomorrow. He'd get to see his 
sister at dinner.

     Jinai sighed and tried to focus on the conversation.  He didn't want 
to hear it, but it couldn't be any worse than having to listen to himself 
think.

     Janis looked over at him and smiled faintly, then said, "Perhaps we 
ought to go help Dornar.  You want to come with us and see your bother, 
Mayle?"

     Elie smiled.  "That's a good idea.  He's been very eager to see you, 
Mayle.  You can tell him and your father all about your adventures in the 
tower."

      Mayle looked over at the two Aes Sedai, who smiled and nodded at 
her.  "Go say hello to your brother, Mayle.  I can tell all this talk is 
boring you."

     Dorine nodded.  "Four years is a long time to go without seeing your 
kin."  Dorine was a Borderlander also, from Saldea.  Family is very 
important, in the north.  They're the ones you know you can trust.

     Jinai, Janis, and Mayle got up and left.  As soon as they were out 
of the building, Mayle's emotional mask crashed down.  She rushed to her 
father and hugged him.  "I've missed you so much, papa..."

     He held her awkwardly, wrapping his arms around her.  He had missed 
her so much...he'd written her off for dead when the sisters took her.  
Most novices were lucky they got to write home periodically.  He'd had a 
few letters from her, but they both knew the sisters would be watching 
any correspondence like a hawk.  It would be better for her in the tower 
if they weren't reminded about her mother and father any more than they 
had to be.  A burned out green sister and her husband, a stilled 
channeler and ex-warder were not people you would want associated with 
you there.  Of course, they'd call me gentled, he thought, but it was 
about as gentle as being beaten to death with a small rock instead of a 
large one.

     Most men died after being stilled, but he wasn't most men.  They had 
told him he had to find a purpose, something to keep him going.  He had 
one, his wife.  A year before he started channeling, she'd burnt herself 
out fighting a horde of Trollocs in the blight, with him, Janis, and her 
other warder Tarin.  Tarin had sacrificed himself so that he and Janis 
could get her out of the Blight.  They hadn't been able to help her.  The 
Yellows simply shook their head and said, "Nothing can be done.  
Stilling, whether deliberate or accidental, can't be healed."  

     He knew they wouldn't lie, that they couldn't lie, that they'd have 
helped her if they could.  They couldn't, but he could.  He had loved her 
for a long time, and now he finally told her.  Together they decided to 
start a new life.  The sisters had been glad to see her go, though they 
hid it, if not very well.  They were almost afraid of her, as if it might 
be infectious.

     But then...the power had come upon him.  Perhaps it had started 
earlier, there was no way to be sure.  Normally, you were younger when it 
started, but it seemed every rule held its exceptions.  They had gone 
home to his home, to Shienar.  He was only the fourth son of a minor 
noble, but they had lived well for those few months.  

     When it became obvious that he was a channeler, he didn't know what 
to do.  He wasn't given a choice.  The Reds came for him, and stripped 
him of the power to make that choice.  He was stilled, and sent back to 
his wife.  

     He couldn't stay at home any more.  Not with the whispers, the 
fear.  His own parents didn't want to see him, the channeler, even if he 
couldn't do it anymore.  He said goodbye to his sister, and slipped out 
in the middle of the night.

     From there, the road had eventually lead them here.  They had two 
children, and raised a family.  His brother had come with them from the 
start.  His help had been vital in making a go of it in the early years.  
Janis was the only relative his children had, effectively.  

     Janis reached over and ruffled Mayla's hair.  "We've missed you, neice."

     "I've missed you too.  I've missed everyone.  I have lots of friends 
in the tower, but they're so mean to novices and ..."  She began rattling 
on about all the difficulties of life as a novice.  Janis and Jinai 
smiled.  They had seen how hard life was for novices back when they had 
been training as warders.  Warders had a hard time of it, but never as 
bad as the novices.  At least not bad in the same ways.

     Soon, they reached the field where Dornar was busy weeding.  He 
heard them approach and stood up.  He was a big lad, almost seventeen 
now, though not as big as his father or uncle. He had ash-blond hair and 
his mother's eyes of blue, with his father's lighter complexion, although 
with the tan he had from hours of outdoor work, one could hardly tell.  

     "I...sister, is that you?"  They had both grown up quite a bit since 
the last time they saw each other.  He had been thirteen and her fourteen 
on that day when the Aes Sedai took her away.  They were both almost 
adults now.  He ran over and hugged her.

     "I've missed you, Dornar."  

     "I've missed you too, Mayle."

     They spent several hours out in the fields weeding and passing time 
together, knowing it might be years again before Mayle might get to see 
them again. 

     Finally, it was time to go back for dinner.  Dornar asked Mayle, "So 
how did you talk them into letting you out of the Tower, anyway?"

     Mayle paused for a few seconds.  "I don't know.  I think it might be 
because I have a talent.  I can see ta'averen.  A lot of sisters can't do 
that.  We're going on to the capital tomorrow."

     Dornar looked around, then turned to his father and said, "I think 
someone is following us."

     His father nodded.  "The green sister sent one of her warders to 
follow us.  Unfortunately, she forgot that I used to serve a green and I 
know their hand signals...Not to mention, he's not good at being 
stealthy."  Jinai turned and shouted into the woods, "Hello!  Come on out 
and join us!"

     The warder chose to keep his dignity and not come forth.

     Dinner was basically two parallel meals.  Jinai, Janis, Mayle, and 
Dornar sat at one end of the table and talked, while Eile, the Aes Sedai, 
and the warders sat at the other end and talked.

     Finally, the meal ended and they all retired to their beds.  The 
warders had to do without beds, for the family had only one extra bed.  
For that matter, Dornar had to give up his bed for Mayle, while Patri 
took her old bed.  Dorina and her two warders had headed back into town 
to the local inn, since there simply weren't enough beds here.  Patri's 
warder slept on the floor of her room.  

     As Jinai was preparing for bed, Eile turned to him and said, "They 
think our son may be or may become a channeler."

     Jinai paled.  "They...what?"

     "The Whites and the Browns think that the children of two channelers 
should be almost guaranteed to be a channeler.  I'm afraid they may be 
right..."

     "But he hasn't channeled at all.  At least not that anyone could 
tell and..."  Jinai felt the grip of fear closing on his heart.  Not both 
my children.

     "You were thirty, remember?"

     "What are they going to do, put him in a room for the rest of his 
life and wait for him to channel?"  That would be no way to live, Jinai 
thought.

     "I don't know..."  She stared silently at her husband.  "We have 
to...do something.  I don't know what.  I don't want to lose both our 
children..."

     "Does the other Aes Sedai know we know?"  Jinai asked.

     "I hope not.  Patri slipped a note into our room somehow.  There's 
more Aes Sedai in the village.  They're not taking any chances."  She 
handed him the note.

     It said:

          Karla, Airya, Dora, and Hirine Sedai of the Red Ajah are in 
town, along with Katarine Sedai of the Browns and Miriya Sedai of the 
White.  Katarine and Miriya believe that the children of two channlers is 
almost guaranteed to be a channeler, so they have come to take Dornar for 
study and so that they will be ready to deal with him when he does start, 
however long that takes.  They plan to be here in the morning when you 
wake up.  They won't take no for an answer.  I thought you should know.  
Destroy this note, they don't know I wrote it.

                                        Your cousin,
                                                 Patri.

     Jinai crumpled the note up.  "What can we do...I can't possibly 
fight that many Aes Sedai...nothing short of death will stop them. If it 
was just one or two...but they'll have warders.  Well, The green's 
warders, plus a few more.  They might actually have been loaned some 
warders for this."  He started to pace back and forth.  The only way to 
stop them would be to strike first.  But if we actually kill them, he 
thought, the tower will hunt us to the ends of the earth.  

     His wife watched him pace and tried to think.  How could they stop 
such a powerful group.  Eile wasn't even sure if her own daughter would 
help them or not.  I know she loves him, she thought, but she might 
decide it's for his own good.  I can't tell Jinai that, he'd be crushed 
to think his daughter might choose the interests of the Tower over him.  
I...if Dornar can channel, he has to be gentled...but I don't want them 
experimenting on him...and he might never start channeling...

     The longer Jinai thought about it, the more he felt he had to do 
something...anything.  I can't let them take my son.  I can't.  We can't 
fight them...And if we kill them...Is there some way we could slow them 
down?  Long enough to slip away...They could try to track us...but...We 
should talk to the others...maybe they'll have an idea...We're all going 
to have to work together to make this work.

     Jinai slipped to his brother's room, then to the room where his 
children slept, and assembled them all in his room, explaining the 
situation.  "I don't think we can stop them, father,"  Mayla said.  "If 
there's that many of them...Maybe if Patri Sedai helped us...but I don't 
know if she will...it would mean being hunted by the tower forever.  
I...would it be so bad if Dornar went with them?  I mean...I..uh..."

     She wilted before her father's angry gaze.  He saw her shrink back, 
and sighed, trying not to glare at her.  "I...what do you think, Dornar?  
If you...If you're willing to go...I won't say anything.  I don't 
want...to lose you...I had hoped it would never come to this...that you 
wouldn't...have to worry about this."  He paused for a long while, then 
said, "But it could be years of waiting and waiting...You might never 
channel...And we have no way of knowing how long they'll want to keep you 
and watch you to see if you start.  I don't want you to spend your life 
becoming the topic of some book for a Brown."

     Hesitantly, Mayle said, "We have a cousin in the tower.  Uncle Ilyan 
sent his third son to the tower to become a warder.  His name is Janis.  
He didn't even know we existed until I told him...they all think our 
father is dead."

     Dornar looked around the room, then said, "I...I don't want to go, 
but I'm not sure if we have a choice.  They won't take no for an answer..."
He sighed.  "If I don't go, and we somehow get away, we may have to spend 
the rest of our lives running from them."

     "It's the reds and the warders who are the real threat,"  Janis 
said.  "I don't think Patri will do anything unless she has to, and the 
Green looks young and inept to me.  Whites and Browns aren't noted for 
their valor or their fighting skills.  If we strike, we'd have to strike 
now, while most of them are asleep.  There's probably at least one 
watching the house to make sure we don't leave."

      They all fell silent for a few minutes.  None of their options 
seemed very palatable.  The silence was broken by the sound of faint 
footsteps outside their window.  Eile turned to her husband.  "Could it 
be..."

     He frowned.  "Either bandits or they decided to come early."

     "We'd best assume it might be bandits.  We'd best arm ourselves."

     The men went to arm themselves.  Janis and Jinai still had their 
swords and a few other weapons.  Dornar got the axe that his father had 
trained him with.  He'd worked with the sword also, but there hadn't 
seemed to be a need to actually buy him one, given they'd had to do only 
a little real fighting in the last twenty years, although Janis and Jinai 
still practiced every day.  It was a link to their past they had been 
unwilling to sever.

     Eile snuffed the lights and got her knives, handing two to Mayle, 
who hesitantly grasped the source.  She knew she shouldn't, but if it was 
bandits, she wanted to do her part.  It still took her long enough to 
grasp the source that she didn't want to have to wait until she saw 
bandits to do it, if it wasn't the warders and the Aes Sedai.

     "Should I wake Aunt Patri, mama?"  she asked.

     Her mother hesistated.  "If it's bandits, we'll deal with them.  If 
it's not...better she not have to choose sides.  One wrong word...and 
your father will try to rip them apart, especially if he recognizes any 
of the Reds.  I think he's forgotten, but Karla was one of the thirteen 
who..."

     Mayle blinked.  "Surely they wouldn't send..."

     "A white sits as the Amyrlin seat now, Mayle.  A white who everyone 
thought should have been a red when I was in the tower.  She undoubtably 
thinks your father is a broken man, weak and helpless.  Perhaps the Reds 
wanted someone who had shown she was experienced in dealing with him.  
Maybe Karla enjoys pushing people when they're down.  Maybe it's just 
some strange weaving of the pattern, pulling people together.  I just 
hope your father doesn't recognize her...because if he sees her while 
he's armed...she'll either die or have to kill him."  Eile left her 
greatest fear unspoken.  Maybe they want him to kill her...or her to be 
able to kill him.  He had enemies in the tower, and the way we left 
didn't make him any friends.  An Aes Sedai cannot kill with the 
power...unless you try to kill her.  

     Karla had been proud of her beauty, once.  Unlike most Reds, she 
took an interest in men--A rather predatory interest, but an interest 
none the less.  She was probably still beautiful, but Eile didn't think 
she'd forget the scar he'd marked across her face when the Reds came for 
him.  Did he remember?  Eile's body tingled faintly with nervous 
tension.  

     The door into the house began to open.  Janis concealed himself 
behind the door, while Jinai took up a position in full view, sending 
Dornar to hide in the kitchen and listen.  

     Two cloaked figures stood in the doorway, with others behind them.  
>From the hallway, Mayle sensed channeling.  Unless the Dark One had 
created new Dreadlords just to harrass her family, the Aes Sedai had to 
be out there.  

      Jinai smiled faintly and cried out, "Greetings, Sedai.  Have you 
decided to turn to banditry in your spare time?  Is the Amyrlin having 
trouble making ends meet?"

     The two cloaked men stepped inside and threw off their no longer 
needed hoods, revealing themselves as two of Dorinda's warders.  She 
entered, followed by more warders and by the Aes Sedai Patri's letter had 
warned them of.  

     Karla stared at Jinai with ice cold eyes for a moment, then said, 
"We have hardly come to steal, only to deal with a problem before it can 
develop.  Where is your son?"

     Jinai lied.  "Long gone.  I'll never let you take him."

     In the hallway, Eile sighed.  It seemed likely her fears would come 
to pass.  

     "I think not.  We've been watching your house, and those who watched 
saw no one leave."

     "Like the man who followed us out the fields so sloppily that a five 
year old would have spotted him?  I think you've been getting lax in 
warder training since I left."

     One of the men flinched slightly at the exposure of his own lack of 
luck earlier in the day.  

     Karla turned to the other Red sisters.  "Search the house.  We'll 
find him."

     Jinai suddenly realized that while Dorinda had come, the white and 
the brown mentioned in the letter were not here.  "Where are Katarine and 
Miriya?  Wasn't this their idea?  Or were they too cowardly to come 
themselves?"

     The three Reds who had been about to search the house with two of 
the warders paused, while Karla simply stared at Jinai with unblinking 
eyes.  Eile swore silently in the hallway and pulled Mayle back towards 
her bedroom.  Karla cocked her head towards the hallway.  "I suppose you 
convinced your daughter to tell you?  Or did Patri betray us?  I can tell 
one of them is channeling there."

     Jinai flinched.  Mayle had known?  And hadn't said anything...no, 
surely this had to be some kind of a trick.  Aes Sedai couldn't lie...but 
she hadn't actually said Mayle knew...and even if Mayle had known the 
other Aes Sedai were there, it didn't mean she knew why they were there.  

      The hallway suddenly lit up, revealing Eile and Mayle in the 
hallway.  Karla laughed contemptously.  "The novice and a burnt out 
weakling.  Even when you still had the power, you couldn't use it 
correctly.  If you'd known what you were doing, you never would have 
burnt yourself out.  Now let go of the source, Mayle, and you won't be 
punished too harshly when we go back to the tower."

     Jinai concentrated and restrained his urge to run Karla through for 
taunting his wife.  Only the knowlege that any attack would almost 
certainly mean his death kept him from slaying her for what she had done 
to him and what she was doing now and intended to do.  "This isn't the 
Tower, Karla, and I don't care about your stupid Tower rules."

     He was about to go on when Karla cut him off.  "Sisters, search the 
house.  Bring out his son.  Mayle, come over here."

     She hesitated.  

     Karla repeated the command, walking towards Jinai as she did so.  
"Mayle, come here now."

     The sisters and some of the warders followed her command, while 
Dorinda and one of her warders stayed near Karla, who stopped just out of 
arm's reach of Jinai.  "I suppose you've forgotten me,"  she said.

     He grimaced.  "I have forgotten nothing.  I see you managed to get 
your face healed."

     "Too bad your injury can't be healed as easily as mine was, eh?"  
She smiled coldly at him.  "We should have killed you so you couldn't 
pass on your tainted power to another generation."

     "The same applies to your soul, if not your power."  he replied.  
"But if we killed everyone vile, your entire Ajah would be dead."

     "We do what must be done to protect the innocent.  Not that you'd 
know what innocent is.  I still don't know how you convinced them to let 
you live after what you did to me."  

     He stared at her in silence for a long time.  "I don't know how they 
convinced me to let you live, either."

     Karla laughed.  "So did Mayle blab or did Patri?"

     "I said nothing to them!  I thought we were going to the capital!"  
Mayle said, twitching nervously.

     "Don't play games with me, Mayle,"  Karla said.  "I know all about 
the little ways one can weasel around the oath against lying.  So does 
everyone else here, except maybe the person we're looking for.  Not to 
mention you haven't sworn the oaths anyway, so I know you can lie.  Did 
you tell them, whether by sign language, writing, speech or whatever?"

     Jinai suddenly realized they still hadn't noticed Janis yet, and 
that they hadn't thought to look in the kitchen for some reason.  He 
still didn't know why they'd left two Aes Sedai behind...or were they 
just outside?  Yes, that made sense.

      Mayle asked the question for him again.  "Where are Katrina and 
Miriya?"

     "They thought it could wait until morning.  I disagreed."  

     "We can't seem to find him anywhere,"  one of the Reds said to Karla.

     Karla sighed.  "There's a room over there.  Go check it."  She 
pointed to the kitchen door.

     Jinai tensed.  If he was going to do something, anything...this was 
the moment to do it.  He glanced across the room and tried to think of 
some way to signal Janis.  It all depended on what Patri would do...if 
she helped...maybe they could stop the Reds somehow...Otherwise, they 
were doomed.  We should have risked waking her, asking her for help.  But 
I just couldn't trust her enough...

     The waiting was too much for Jinai. He leaped at Karla, drawing his 
sword.  I'll die, but maybe I'll at least take her with me, he thought.

     Wrong answer.   Someone bound him in air and let him tumble to 
the ground.  

     Karla said to him.  "I thought you'd try that.  If I'd been any 
closer, it might even had succeeded...if your daughter hadn't saved me.  
Good job, Mayle, although you were supposed to stop channeling.  Tsk, 
tsk.  I win again, Jinai."

     Mayle's mother began to cry onto her shoulder.  Did I do the right 
thing?, she thought.  If he killed Karla, he'd have just been killed 
himself.  This way, he'll live...they'll all live.  They don't want to 
hurt my brother, they just have to make sure he doesn't channel....

     The reds hauled Dornar out into the living room, bound with air like 
his father. He also had a nasty sword wound in the gut and one of the 
warders was busily cleaning his sword.  Another warder staggered over to 
Dorinda, with a nasty axe wound in his arm.  Dorinda prepared to heal 
him.

     Eile said, "Aren't you going to heal my son?"

     Karla laughed.  "Why bother.  He hasn't long to live, anyway."

     "What?"  Mayle said.  "That wound's hardly fatal."

     "I'm afraid it was decided that it would be better to simply prevent 
him from passing on his tainted blood, than to have to keep him around 
for days, months, or years waiting for him to show it.  He can't pass on 
the trait if he doesn't live to pass it on.  If we gentled him, he might 
go on to have children like his father to pass on the trait."

     Mayle paled.  "No one said anything about that when we came on this 
trip!"

     "Of course not.  I expected you to warn them, and we'd be able to 
kill him while he was fleeing justice, so to speak.  Well, if wishes were 
horses, beggars would ride.  You'll have to go too, now, but then, I 
never liked you anyway.  I suppose history will simply remember Dornar as 
a particularly dangerous channeler, nipped in the bud by the Red Ajah, 
who were also forced to slay his sister who tried to help him escape."

     Mayle started to weave desperately, but it was too late.  The Reds 
slammed down a shield on her before she could do anything.  She turned to 
Dorinda, but Dorinda simply looked coldly at her. "We do what must be 
done.  I hoped to avoid dragging you into this...but we can't always get 
what we want."

     Eile watched in shock.  The same fear and hopelessness that had 
oppressed her when she first realized she could no longer channel swept 
over her, crushing her ability to act, to speak, to do anything.  Her 
entire family was going to die, and there was nothing she could do.

     Janis stood behind the door still, trying to decide what to do.  
Karla turned.  "You might as well come out, Janis.  It's not like we 
don't all know you're there."  

     He sighed and stepped out.  She continued, "It is a pity to reward 
such faithful service as yours, keeping an eye on them for us all these 
years with death, but you've also heard too much.  Besides, you might 
carry the same potential as your brother.  Better to make a clean sweep.  
Your family can't be touched, but you can."

     Perhaps she's gone mad, Mayle thought.  The Red Ajah may seem cruel, 
but they don't normally operate like this.  Or maybe she's just more 
vengeful than I ever realized.  I should never have come...but I wanted 
to be able to try to warn them...and I wanted to see Dornar again, and 
papa and mama.  My mistake.  I should have known she wouldn't wait 
until morning...but I had to be cautious so they wouldn't realize I'd 
spilled the beans.  If only Katarina and Miriya had come...they'd be able 
to restrain Karla...or at least we'd have a fighting chance.  No one 
would dare defy one of the Brown sitters so openly.  But now Katarina 
will never know...If only Patri would wake up...we should have woken her 
up.  She must sleep like a rock.

     Jinai stared at his brother.  He's been spying on us for the Aes 
Sedai all these years?  It had to be true...Karla Sedai couldn't have 
said it if it wasn't true.  He betrayed us...no, it has to be some kind 
of a trick...somehow.

     Janis stared back.  "I'm sorry, brother.  I never thought it would 
come to this...I didn't realize the Red Ajah had sworn to the Dark One."

     Karla flinched.  "I do not serve the Dark One.  The Black Ajah is a 
myth.  I do this for the good of all of humanity.  A few must die that 
others might be safe.  While men who channel or can pass on the ability 
run free, the world risks another breaking.  If you see a mole in the 
garden, do you wait for it to destroy the garden, or do you get rid of it 
first?  Men destroyed the world once.  I do not intend to let them do it 
again, whatever the cost of stopping them, even if it is my own life."

      For a moment, no one spoke.  Mayla said, "Did...did the Amyrlin 
approve this?  Does this happen with ...all men who channel now?"

     "Not yet.  We have to move carefully, subtly, or those who cannot 
understand why we must do what we must do would protest and hamper our 
work.  Indeed, many within the tower do not yet understand the necessity 
of this."

     "But did the Amyrlin approve this?"  Eile said, repeating her 
daughter's question.  

     "I don't have to answer your questions, Eile."  Karla said.  "You're 
not one of us any more, nor have you long to live."  She frowned 
briefly.  "I'm surprised Patri Sedai is still asleep, but it does mean 
one less casualty.  That woman can sleep through anything."

     Eile found herself nodding in agreement.  Patri had slept through 
her house being on fire, once.  At least they won't kill Patri...

     Mayle blinked as she felt a surge of channeling from the room Patri 
slept in, and heard two screams from outside.  Dorinda howled and 
collapsed, clutching her head.  "Martin, Corwin...no!"

     Karla's triumphant smile turned into a frown.  "It seems someone is 
not asleep after all.  Dora, Hirine, take two warders and check outside.  
I do believe someone's slipped out a window. Airya, keep the shield on 
the novice.  The rest of you, come with me...we'll see if Patri is still 
in the room.  Assuming you can stop crying, Dorinda. Or would you rather 
just lie there and pule?"

     Dorinda pulled herself together.  Everyone scattered to obey her 
orders.  Karla paused and wrapped Janis in bonds of air, just to be sure 
he didn't try anything, then stepped into the hallway.  Eile blocked her 
path.

     "Get out of my way, Eile.  There's nothing you can do to stop me."

     "Because I can't channel?"

     "Exactly.  You have no power. You're nothing but a crippled old 
woman, an incompetent who brought her doom on herself."

     "Just like you."  Too late, Karla saw the hand driving for her 
throat...and the knife in it.  A second one caught her in the gut.  The 
door opened and Patri stood beyond it.  As Karla wove fire to destroy 
Eile, the Source vanished behind a shield and the world began to dissolve 
away in pain.    
     
     Airya tied off the shield on Mayle and turned her attention to Patri 
as the warders now grabbed Eile and slammed her into the wall.  As she 
reached out to shield Patri, Patri cut the shield on Mayle.  Airya and 
Patri struggled for long seconds as the two warders in the hallway 
pounded Eile into the wall over and over.  

     Karla crumpled to the ground, in too much pain to channel, feeling 
her blood pouring out on the ground.  Dorinda joined the attack on Patri, 
whose defenses crumbled.  But in those few seconds, Mayle cut the bonds 
on her father and uncle.  Dorinda was struck twice from behind and 
collapsed.  

     Airya finished shielding Patri, then realized two angry men were 
bearing down on her.  The warders left Eile and turned to intercept Janis 
and Jinai. While the warders were younger and had all the advantages the 
Warder bond can give, Janis and Jinai were driven by rage and had twice 
as much experience.  The fight was clearly going to be a long one.  

     Airya prepared to destroy the two men, only to realize a shield was 
coming between her and the source...It was Mayle, who she had almost 
forgotten.  She turned to battle Mayle, who soon lost the invisible 
struggle.  Having finally shielded Mayle, she turned to the sword battle, 
watching it for a few moments, almost mesmerized by the dance of blades.  

     Karla moaned, and Airya started back to reality.  Karla's life was 
slipping away.  The sword fight would have to wait...she had to make sure 
Karla wouldn't die.

     She kneeled to heal Karla and the door opened.  Starting, she looked 
up and saw Dora and Hirine walk in the door.  They looked emotionally 
shattered.  An instant later, she realized they had been shielded...by 
women.  Her mind spun, trying to think of who could possibly have 
shielded them.  Weren't all of the Aes Sedai present accounted for?

     The answer followed Dora and Hirine in the door.  Two warders 
stepped in, followed by Katarine and Miriya Sedai.  "Let go of the 
source, Airya, or shall we have to shield you too?"  Miriya said.  She 
and Katarine were linked and both looked angry.  

     "But Karla is about to die!  I have to heal her!"

     "Let go of the Source now, or we'll take it from you."  Miriya 
said.  "Her plotting has wrecked this mission, as we feared it would.  
This all could have been avoided if you'd only stuck to the plan."

     Airya sighed and released the Source, but they shielded her anyway.  
"I...hey!  You said..."

     "We never said we wouldn't shield you if you did release the 
source,"  Miriya said.  She turned to Mayle, "And whose side are you on, 
girl?"

     Mayle began to cry.  "My brother is dying!  You've got to help 
him!"  Dornar wasn't getting any better, lying on the floor where he had 
been since the fighting broke out.  

     Miriya turned to Dornar and walked over to him.  Airya stared at her 
in disbelief, then said, "Aren't you going to do anything about Karla?  
She's dying!  You're going to save a thrice-cursed male channeler before 
one of your own Sisters?"

     Miriya sighed.  "If the boy could channel, he probably wouldn't be 
lying here on the floor bleeding to death.  He may channel one day, and I 
intend to be ready when that happens, but it hasn't happened yet."  She 
kneeled and healed Dornar.

     Karla Sedai heard this and her anger flared through the pain and her 
fading vision.  She reached out and grabbed the source, hurling her rage 
as fire at those she most hated and feared.  Eile and Jinai went up in 
flames like two torches, while Miriya only narrowly cut the flows and 
stopped the fire that lanced at her and Katarine.  Janis screamed with 
rage, turned and charged Karla.    

     With her final thought, Karla tried to obliterate him, but the power 
was too much for her in her weakened condition and her last sensation 
before unconsciousness was that of being scoured from the inside out by 
the one power as it destroyed her ability to channel.

     She collapsed.  Janis didn't stop, raising his sword to impale her, 
stopped only by Miriya Sedai, who wrapped him with air before he could 
slay Karla.  

     Mayle sobbed silently without tears.  Katarine Sedai came over to 
her and clumsily hugged her.  "I'm sorry, Mayle.  I know this must be 
hard for you.  Justice will be done, I promise you."  As always, words 
were not enough, and Mayle had struggle with herself to trust in what 
Katarine said.
 
***************************************************************************

     The white sister paused for a moment in the telling of the tale.  
The classroom was absolutely silent.  Even the normal muttering in the 
background of tower life was absent.  Finally, the white sister 
continued.  "Upon returning to the tower, the mission's members were 
sworn to secrecy.  The Amyrlin conducted a covert investigation in 
conjunction with her closest advisors, who decided to destroy all records 
and forbade all those involved to ever speak of the affair again.  The 
three surviving Red sisters and Dorinda were forced to do penance for 
five years, the details of which are unknown to me for sure."

     The most alert of the students interrupted.  "Three reds?  I thought 
you said there were four."

     "Karla Sedai was discovered to have burnt herself out and was 
released from the Tower.  Two months later, her remains were sent to the 
Amyrlin in a box, having been chopped to pieces by some unknown 
assailant.  I did not count her in the above total.  Janis returned to 
the tower with Dornar to act as his protector.  Dornar lived in the tower 
for fifteen years while they waited for him to learn to channel.  He fell 
ill and refused healing, choosing to die rather than to live out his life 
as an experiment.  Janis vanished shortly thereafter."  

     Once again, the class sat silently.  "Wait...didn't you say the 
Amyrlin ordered everyone involved never to speak of this?"  the smartest 
of the novices said nervously.  "If it's public now, why haven't we heard 
of this before?"

     Another student said, "Didn't Patri Sedai hang herself last week?  
And last year..."

     "Patri Sedai hung herself in the same sense that Katarina Sedai 
slipped down the stairs while reading and fell to her death last year of 
her own free will.  I'm surprised they didn't claim that Amyrlin choked 
herself to death of her own choice on a chicken bone six months after she 
made that decision too.  Everyone who knows what happened in that 
farmhouse is dead, except me.  And now you.  Perhaps you may hear that I 
climbed to the top of the tower and tried to fly sometime soon.  Now 
you'll know better."

     She paused and the members of the class looked nervously at one 
another.  "Of course, no one is hearing this but you, so as long as none 
of you blab, you're safe.  Can you trust each other to keep quiet?  All 
it will take is one loud mouth, one careless whisper, one betrayal to 
power and the cycle of blood will begin again.  Karla wasn't alone in her 
feelings.  They'll do whatever it takes to get their way.  So will I.  
And in the end, so will you.  You have to decide what's important to 
you.  Learn who you can trust.  Maybe you'll heal the growing split in 
our ranks, end the infighting, make this a place to be proud of again.  I 
doubt it.  You've heard rumors about the Black Ajah by now, no doubt.  I 
can't say if it exists...but I can say it doesn't need to.  Far too many 
of us do the Dark One's work whether we will to or not.  Be careful that 
you don't."

     She fell silent.  "Any questions?"

     No one dared speak or even acknowlege that anyone else in the room 
existed.  "Class dismissed, then."

     Mayle Sedai swept out of the room into the hallway, leaving the 
novices staring at the walls, the ceiling and each other.  Once she was 
alone, she sagged against the wall.  Father, forgive me, she 
thought.  I could not avenge you...I can only pray they will where I 
could not.  The tears came as they always did, and she sobbed soundlessly as 
she walked off to face her destiny.

***************************

(From Chapter 45? of Lord of Chaos)

Give me your trust, said the Aes Sedai.
On my shoulders I support the sky.
Trust me to know and to do what is best
And I will take care of the rest.
   But trust is the color of a dark seed growing
   Trust is the color of a heart's blood flowing.
   Trust is the color of a soul's last breath.
   Trust is the color of death.

Give me your trust, said the queen on her throne,
for I must bear the burden all alone.
Trust me to lead and to judge and to rule,
and no man will think you a fool.
   But trust is the sound of the grave-dog's bark.
   Trust is the sound of betrayal in the dark.
   Trust is the sound of a soul's last breath.
   Trust is the sound of death.    


John Walter Biles :  MA-History, Ph.D Wannabe at U. Kansas         
ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu   http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~ranma/falcon.html 
                            http://www.dhp.com/~wraven/john/index.html

If you've ever watched the game warden through a gun sight...
     You might be a redneck.