Serey had just packed the last of her things away when Maris appeared in the doorway.

 

“Sure I can't convince you to stay?” the old woman asked.  “A smart girl marries, births babies--”

 

“--And doesn't run after daydreams.” Serey finished, and turning around she gave her landlady a firm hug.  “I'll miss you, too.”

 

“Not as much as I'll miss you.”

 

“Probably not.”  Serey smiled and dodged Maris's playful slap.

 

“Well, if you ever need to rent a room...”  Maris waved her hand.

 

“I know,” she said, giving the old woman another hug.  “You've been so kind.”

 

“If things don't go as you expect, today,” Maris whispered into her ear, “you come right on back.  We'll drink till we're drunk and have us a good cry.”

 

Serey nodded, and waved Maris out of the room. 

 

“Just saying,” Maris called, as she retreated down the hall.

 

“Just saying,” Serey echoed, smiling as she wiped a tear off her cheek.  She had lived in Tar Valon, under Maris's roof, for four years and had worked for Maris's brother, the butcher.  With their help, she had made a nice life for herself.  But, Serey most definitely did not want to be a butcher's errand girl the rest of her life.  She wanted to stand on her own two feet, and to make her own way.

 

After giving her room one last look-over, she tied her bag's drawstrings, threw it over her shoulder, and headed out onto the street. 

 

Serey took her time, meandering through the crowds, letting them press her onwards.  Her eyes darted everywhere, trying to memorize all the details of the Ogre mason work, the fountains, the plazas, the shops, even the people.  Tar Valon was majestic, but, if things went as planned, it would be years before she could walk down the city's streets again.

 

Eventually, Serey stopped her wandering and made her way to the Tower.  She had never dared go near it before, if her father knew...  Serey sighed, and took her place at the end of the queue of people wanting to speak to an Aes Sedai.  Her father's beliefs didn't matter.  They were backwards, grounded in hate and fear.  She knew that now.  Yet, she had found that dismissing the man was much harder than dismissing his opinion.

 

“What business do you have with the tower?” an accepted asked, when Serey had made her way to the front of the line.

 

Serey set down her bag and gave a small curtsy.  “I'm hoping to become a novice.”

 

The accepted smiled and nodded.  "Follow me then, please." 

 

Trailing after, Serey was torn between trying to keep up with the woman's fast clip of a walk, and looking at her surroundings.  The Tower!  She was in the White Tower.

 

They stopped in front of a door, and the accepted rapped three times.

Pia Tovisen comforted the whippet of a novice seated in front of her as best she could. Her position as overseer of the White Tower initiates meant she often handed out correction and punishments, yet there were times when she also offered a shoulder to cry on, for those in need. It was disconcerting at times, Pia herself had never been one prone to tears or 'female' outbursts of emotion, yet to some of these girls, she was the closest thing they now had to a mother.

 

Offering the sniffling girl a handkerchief from her pocket, Pia patted the girl's back lightly, from where she was kneeling in front of her, silver skirts swishing softly as she moved. "There now child, dry your tears." She said softly, soothingly. The girl nodded, dabbing at her moist cheeks. She had been in the office now for some time, crying with homesickness, though now at least it seemed she was feeling better, her sobs subsiding. Pia could hardly recall the words she had spoken to soothe her, but they seemed to work as the girl mustered a shaky smile.

 

"Thankyou, Aes Sedai." The girl managed as Pia stood, awarding her with a smile as a tingling sensation passed over her, a sure sign that one of her wards had been set off. As if on cue a knock sounded on the door. "Off with you now girl." Said Pia gently, leading her to the door. Opening it, the novice dropped a curtsey and scurried past, leaving a bewildered looking girl accompanied by an Accepted in her wake. Not clothed as an initiate, the newcomer had the appearance of an outsider, a petitioner perhaps.

 

"This girl has come to be tested, Pia Sedai," explained the Accepted after dropping a respectful curtsey. Pia thanked her and dismissed her with a wave, turning her attention to the girl who remained. "Please, come in." She invited, allowing her to enter first, closing the door behind her with a soft click. Motioning to a straight backed chair in front of the heavy wooden desk, Pia took her own seat behind it. "My name is Pia Tovisen, and I am the mistress of novices. How can I help you today child?"

 

~Pia Tovisen, MoN

“Be respectful,” the Accepted instructed, as they waited before the door of the Mistress of Novices.  “Don't speak until spoken to, and all will be well.”

 

Serey nodded, her stomach feeling as if it were trying to roll over.  She had never met an Aes Sedai before.  I should ask how to curtsy, she thought, biting her lower lip.  And- eye contact.  Is it improper to meet an Aes Sedai's gaze?  Everyone knew the Aes Sedai were to be respected, but how respectful did they expect?

 

Before she could ask for the Accepted's advice, the door to opened and a girl clad in a white Novice dress scurried by. 

 

Off put, Serey took a step back.  The girl's cheeks were wet.  Had she been crying?  The stories she had grown up on, of Aes Sedai in league with the Dark One, flooded her mind.  What manner of woman made a girl, almost grown, cry?

 

Beside her, the Accepted dropped a curtsy, and Serey tried her best to mimic it.  In no time at all, the Mistress of Novices had dismissed the Accepted, and Serey realized she was on her own.  Sweat broke out on her brow, itching beneath her bangs.  Serey gripped her skirts to keep her hands from wiping it away.

 

The Mistress of Novices walked around her to sit behind the room's desk.  "My name is Pia Tovisen, and I am the mistress of novices. How can I help you today child?"

 

Serey lifted her eyes, meaning to just get a peek at the woman, but ending up staring.  She knew it was rude, but, the woman didn't look Aes Sedai.  At least, she didn't have horns or warts.  Instead, she looked very much like Maris with strong features and a solid build.  Well, she didn't have Maris' gray hair or wrinkles, but she was most definitely human. 

 

Serey couldn't help but smile, as she bobbed another curtsy.  “A pleasure to meet you, Pia Sedai,” she said, manners returning, and sat down in the offered chair.  Forcing her eyes up, she met the other woman's gaze, not wanting to appear afraid.  Serey took a deep breath.  “I would very much like to enroll as a novice.”

Pia surveyed the girl in the wooden chairin front of her desk. Those chairs were uncomfortable, but that was for a purpose. After all, those who spent too much time in them would deserve the discomfort. Those who did not were merely reminded of the fact that they should not misbehave, in order to avoid the discomfort that came with the chairs. The young woman, who had identified herself as Serey sat down. Pia folded her hands in front of her on the desk, and studied the girl intently for a moment. Not that she could judge if the girl would be worth anything just yet, but at least she would be able to see how nervous the girl was. Those who were most nervous often were the ones who wanted it most.

 

“Tell me, child…” She started, deliberately using the word child. She would become accustomed to it before she was raised to Aes Sedai, and Pia saw no point in shielding the girl from what would be her reality during the next twenty years of her life, if she turned out to be worthy of staying. “Have you been tested?” The girl shook her head, indicating that she had not been tested, or perhaps that she didn’t even know what the test entailed. Pia smiled reassuringly at the young woman, and opened one of the drawers of her desk. There was only one item in the drawer. A smoky gray gem that she had received from the former Mistress of Novices.

 

Slowly she rose from her seat, and walked to the other side of the desk. Though she was by no means the tallest Aes Sedai within the White Tower, she imagined that she must come across as being a giantess to the young woman sitting in the uncomfortable chair. She knelt in front of her, trying to relax the young woman a little. The test would be hard enough as it was without Serey being terrified of her. “Clear your mind completely, and focus on the stone.” She said. The girl did, staring at the stone intently. Time passed, and Pia worried that her arm would cramp up before the girl showed any sign of potential. Just as she thought there would be nothing, a light flickered within the stone. Pia smiled, and rose again. As she walked back to her side of the desk, she imagined she felt the surprise in the eyes of the girl as they settled on her back.

 

“Congratulations, dear. You can learn to channel.”

 

 

~Pia Tovisen, MoN

 

Ooc: rp your reaction to finding out you can channel.

 

”Clear your mind completely and focus on the stone,” The Mistress of Novices said, kneeling in front of Serey and holding out a small gray stone.

 

Serey nodded and tried to calm her whirling thoughts. 

 

Test?  She hadn't know she had to pass a test to become a novice.  And exactly what was she suppose to be doing, exactly?  Clear your mind.  Serey took a deep breath, just managing not to sigh.  She had never been able to clear her mind.  It was like being told not to think of a purple cow.  The order issued, her mind couldn't help but speculate about what, exactly, a purple cow would look like.

 

Concentrate on breathing... she thought, and tried it for a few breaths.  But as she did, her eyes lost their focus on the stone.  Serey blinked, narrowing her eyes.  How exactly was she suppose to clear her mind and focus at the same time?  She hated contradictions...

 

Serey tried studying the stone.  She tried looking through the stone.  She tried holding her breath.  Nothing worked. 

 

Frustrated, Serey squeezed her eyes shut.  Maybe she should just leave.  Or ask for more specific instructions?  If the Aes Sedai wanted her to do something, why didn't she just say exactly what she wanted?

 

Clear your mind...  Focus on the stone...

 

Defeated, Serey opened her gaze settling on the stone.  Just leave, she thought, and just as quickly pushed the thought away.  For just a second, Serey felt-  Something...  Her brow wrinkled in concentration and she tried once more, pushing any wayward thoughts away as soon as they appeared.  It was if her mind were a compass needle and the stone was north.  When her thoughts whirled, she let north pull them back into place.

 

Then, for just a second, Serey thought she saw the stone glow.  But as soon as she pushed the thought away, the glow was gone and Pia Sedai stood up. 

 

Serey's face flushed in embarrassment, and she reached down for her pack, ready to leave.

 

“Congratulations, dear,” Pia Sedai said.  “You can learn to channel.”

 

Serey sat up straight, dropping the bag.  “What?” she asked, trying to focus, trying to understand.  “I can learn to channel?  But- How do you know?  I just gazed at a stone.  What does that have to do with anything?”

Pia just smiled at Serey, at the confusion that crossed her features, warring with something that looked much like relief. "Did you see the small flash of light in the stone? It was brief, but it was definitely there. Once you begin your lessons, you will learn more, but suffice it to say for now that you definitely possess the ability to channel. Anyone devoid of the gift could stare at the stone until they expired and still not achieve so much as the tiny spark you created."

 

Now that the girl had already been tested, it was time to make her stay at the White tower a fact. Strange enough, the testing didn’t mean that the girl looked any more secure than she had before about her stay at the White Tower. Even though she had to know, somewhere deep down inside of herself that she would be accepted within the White Tower. That she would learn to channel, to the best of her abilities. Still the girl shifted in her seat, as if she couldn’t quite believe that she would be asked to stay. Pia decided to relieve her from the tension that was building. She opened the book of Novices which was still in front of her. She picked up her pen, and prepared to write. “Let’s see about making your stay here a bit more permanent then, shall we?”

 

She didn’t have to look at the young woman to see that there was a change in the tension that had kept her in it’s thrall. “Can you tell me your full name again?” As the girl replied, she wrote it down in the book. Another life sealed to the Tower, for better and for worse. “And your place of birth and raising?” again she wrote, making Serey‘s stay more certain with every letter, every curved or straight line. “And finally your age.” She finished with a dot behind the age, which felt as heavy and important as any signature from any high lord or lady. “Welcome to the White Tower.”

 

Ooc: rp your char’s reaction to being written down in the novice book.

 

Pia Tovisen, MoN