Surely that could not be Aramina sur Dulciena?

 

The object of Carise Doraile’s attention disappeared again into the whirling crowd of dancers in a flurry of green skirts. Carise affected a dismal scowl, but the expression was lost in the shadows of her dark hood as she stood against the back wall of the inn’s common room, cup of spiced wine in hand.

 

Murandy’s Festival of Spring was now in its second night, and in the Swan Song Inn, as outside in the streets, men and women decked out in festive garb were wining and dancing as though there were no tomorrow. Music of the harp and flute and a dozen native Murandian instruments Carise had never seen before echoed through the town, as if by their very volume and cheer they could drown out Murandy’s current political woes.

 

To the common folk, Carise supposed, nothing had changed – Murandy was a potful of opposing factions at best, giving the King in name little if any control over his supposed subjects. The sickness and impending death of just another man on the royal throne meant naught to the commons; the only sign of change was a reduction in trade as traders avoided the increasingly volatile region, and perhaps the dresses and suits this year at Festival were a little less festive than years gone by.

 

To the “upper crust”, though, as the rich and politically conscious were strangely called here in Murandy, this could not be a more exciting time. Ambitious upstarts fell like rain from the overcast Murandian skies, new ones everyday, and the power play that went on under the table tops or in plain sight was enough to please any eager player of the Great Game. And with the political maneuvering came its associated peripherals – foreign and local agents spying on developments in opposing camps, unscrupulous folk trying to gain favour with rising upstarts… it was, Carise reflected, a surprise that Murandy wasn’t already boiling over with the heat of tension and ambition being generated.

 

“A cesspit of power-grabbing and politics;” Allegra Toren, one of Carise’s former mentors in the Red Ajah, had described the region very adequately. “But nothing should pose much of a problem for a Tower’s representative. In fact, any Murandian upstart would prize the Tower’s influence, and you would probably find yourself walking daily on rolled-out red carpets.” At this a mischievous glint lit up her eyes. “Should be a welcome change for you, after so many years of fishmeal in poor Altaran hovels.”

 

Upstarts and their minions had not posed a problem thus far, but what Allegra had omitted in her predictions was the very troublesome presence of another sister of the Tower. It was actually, once Carise had got used to the idea, not at all surprising that another of the White Tower’s Ajahs or factions had sent sisters to support one or other of the Murandian camps. She wondered why Allegra had left out that possibility; did the other Red think it too insignificant, or did she want Carise to find out for herself? If the latter, why? But these questions were now irrelevant. The problem in hand was now to deal with her counterparts who tried to poke their inconvenient fingers into the same pie.

 

“My agents have reported the presence of another of your sisters making inquiries around these parts,” Rondel Aemev had told Carise diffidently as they sat down to break their fast the second morning she arrived in Murandy. Aemev was a Murandian general appointed by the present ailing King; he supported no faction as yet, but as a member of a potentially powerful House was approached from all sides by hopeful upstarts. And, secretly, Aemev had been a Red Ajah agent for twenty years, and Allegra’s principal contact in thus far in Murandy. “Her name is Aramina sur Dulciena Sedai, and if my agents are not wrong, she hails from the Green.”

 

So Aramina had been inquiring after prospective factions as well. The Green was not prominent in Carise’s memory; as far as she could remember, Aramina was Accepted with her for a time, a cold and aloof Cairhienin, marked as one who would go far. Then Carise had chosen the Red, and Aramina the Green, and their paths had not crossed since. Till now. The Green now had it in her hands to potentially upset Allegra’s carefully-made plans.

 

Carise’s scowl deepened as a particularly fanciful passage of notes from a flute jolted her back to the present. Burn Allegra for not being here to handle her own problems, she thought uncharitably. Whether or not she has an urgent call from one of her agents in the Borderlands. Not that Aramina would be difficult to handle. The way the woman twirled, batting flirtatious eyelashes at any man within her grasp, it seemed she had somehow completely transformed in personality to fit the Green Ajah stereotype. Had she lost all sense of propriety, flaunting her ageless smiles and Great Serpent ring about as she did?

 

Smoothing her features, Carise stalked over to where Aramina now leaned against the opposite wall, catching her breath between a succession of dances. “Aramina sur Dulciena Aes Sedai,” the Red said coldly, conferring on the other the fully undeserved title that she had plainly forgotten, “I would speak with you tonight, if you can find the time between dances.”

 

Carise Doraile

Prim and Proper Red ;)

“Aramina sur Dulciena Aes Sedai, I would speak with you tonight, if you can find the time between dances.”

 

"There is never enough time between dances to do more than catch my breath." The quip came easily from her lips, as did the playful smile, but those who knew her best knew that neither was natural and neither was true. Aramina sur Dulciena was a ficticious creature really. To some she was a hard woman with a demeaner as cold as a Saldean winter. To others she was a fool of a lightskirt with little thought in her head. To still others, she was a shadow that watched and waited and never moved until the chess pieces were poised precisely for her victory. All and none could be said to be true.

 

Aramina sur Dulciena was nothing, if not Aes Sedai, and though no lie ever crossed her lips, a magnitude of mistruths could cover as easily if one had the skill. She was one such individual. So the past she had adapted as she sat in the Swan Song Inn her first night had been a lightskirt. She'd been two three Inns before it and the heavy Aes Sedai bit had given her nothing. It was amazing the amoung of information a little drink, some dancing, and an implied promise would get you.

 

There were times the reputation of the Green Ajah got in her way. This trip to Murandy was not one of them though. She pretended not to understand the happenings around her, saying only that her stay in Murandy was more along the lines of fun than anything else. And with her flirting and dancing, no one ever thought otherwise.

 

It was without a doubt, a surprise to see Carise Doraile's arrival and not a surprise at all when she came over to talk to her. Aramina got a certain degree of amusement from the woman as she observed her. They had been Accepted together, though they had not been friends, so her supposed transformation might have surprised the Red Sister.

 

She smiled warmly again at the Sister and nodded. "Well, I don't like the next song anyway. Why don't we have a seat in the back so we can talk all you'd like. Do you have any gossip? And do you think Tar Valon will take highly to this fashion?" She asked of her green dress. It was made in the Murandy style, supposedly all the rage now. She kept up the light talk as she walked with Carise towards the back.

 

When Aramina walked past the Innkeeper and nodded towards the back, the woman smiled and waved her in. It was a small private dining room, but it was well furnished and Aramina had become fond of it on her trips to Murandy. The Innkeeper was one of Aramina's eyes and ears and though she knew little of who Aramina really was, she liked her and took good care of her.

 

When the door closed behind them, the ficticious Aramina who laughed and played was quickly replaced with another, more common and less friendly one. "I don't suppose a Red Sister just happened to come into the one Inn in all of Murandy with another Sister." She said in way of greeting. "Was there something I could do for you Carise Sedai?" She asked.

 

Aramina’s careless quip left her speechless for the first time in years. Why it did Carise could not say. Perhaps it was the weight and habit of distant memory in which the other had been prim and somewhat remote, for the remark was surely one that belonged on the lips of the lightskirt Carise had seen dancing all evening. But Aramina did not wait to appreciate the effect of her words, and Carise followed her down the hallway.

 

Her initial surprise faded as the Green kept up a small avalanche of light talk. Evidently the Murandians were closing their eyes to her ageless face and taking her as an unfortunate lightskirt, or they were taking her as a lightskirt anyway, and to the Pit of Doom with the Tower’s reputation. Which was worse Carise could not decide.

 

She bit down a sarcastic reply to Aramina’s talk of fashion – the day the women of the Tower took up the Green’s scanty style of dressing would be a good day indeed for the Dark One – and presently they found themselves ensconced in a private dining room in the back of the inn, blessedly alone.

 

Carise occupied herself in taking off her cloak and folding it, then arranging her brown skirts on the bench. Aramina occupied herself in stripping off her persona, revealing a whole new facet of her character underneath, much as one peeled the skin off an onion.

 

The Red suppressed an amused smile. So the other woman was going straight to business, respect for another sister’s independence and the usual discreet cover of politics thrown condescendingly out the back window, through which they could see Murandians merry-making in the street outside. Aramina’s straightforwardness reminded Carise of another encounter far north in the Borderlands, only she had been a clueless young sister then, and the Green opposite her was one Loraine Kilaine. Stereotypical Green indeed.

 

Deftly weaving a ward against eavesdropping – Murandians were slippery at best and walls had ears, here – Carise leaned forward, elbows on the cracked table, and obliged the Green just as bluntly. “You could do something for me, in fact. My agent tells me that you are inquiring after potential upstarts for the throne. They sure are stirring up a storm here, aren’t they?” The sweet smile she gave was inappropriate both to her tone of voice and her keenly observing eyes.

 

“The thing is, there are those in the Tower who have planned years for this day and opportunity, and they would scarce like to see their careful plans upset by a careless meddler.” She lowered her voice. “Do not get involved here, Aramina, and you would do us both a great favour.”

 

She sat back, the better to observe the effect of her warning.

 

Carise Doraile

Down with meddlers!

If Aramina was prone to such things, she might have laughed at the audacity of the woman before her to tell her to stay out of things. Did she think the lightskirt act was real?

 

She gave the Red Sister a small polite smile. So Carise was here for the same reasons she herself was. Murandy was a hotbed of political scheming these days and she wasn't the only one not notice. Nor was the Tower. Instead of berating her Sister for her meddling, Aramina took a deep breath. "Perhaps if you were to tell me more about your business here, we could be of some assistance to one another."

 

It was not the rejection that was surprising; any Aes Sedai worth her salt would not be cajoled about like a damp cloth. It was rather the offer of cooperation. Sisters they might be in name, but hidden motives and goals were numerous as the sisters of the Tower themselves. Once, Carise might have been naïve enough to believe that Aramina’s offer was genuine, but the years and mistakes had taught her differently. In everyday dealings, as in the Gray’s arcane law of contracts, one had to differentiate an offer from an invitation to treat, and Aramina’s was indubitably the latter. It would have struck a hopeful chord in Carise had she been inclined to negotiate at all. As it was, the prospect of Aramina’s assistance was not so much hoped-for as unwanted in her already-settled scheme of things.

 

Instead of speaking her mind, she narrowed her eyes and decided to humour the Green. “And what consideration would you offer for my cooperation?”

 

Carise Doraile

"I wish only to conclude my own business here and be on my way. I have little love for Murandy, except perhaps for a dance of two," she said with a small smile, "and I would not try to hinder your own if I knew to what end you worked. Though perhaps you are not so certain of your intent yet?" She asked. "There are a number of interesting possibilities with the current situation."

 

Aramina wasn't about to open up about her own schemes without a little bending on the part of the woman across from her. She didn't know the Red Sister well, in fact she knew very little aside from her Ajah and her reputation. Aramina wanted a little more information about her before she gave anything. "Would you like some tea while we talked?" She asked, then peeked her head out the door without answer to send a serving girl after some. She smiled at Carise as she looked back. "It should be here in a moment."

 

She took a seat then, waiting to see the Sister's reaction to Aramina's constant change and shift in personality and deed.

 

OOC: School! Work! I am SOOO sorry :(

 

The smile that fixed itself on Carise’s face belied nothing of her thoughts; as she nodded politely at Aramina’s offer of tea, any observer besides the Green herself would likely decide that the two were acquaintances having a pleasant chat. Inwardly, Carise felt as if she were in one of those wrestling games common among Murandians in taverns. So Aramina would not give way and she would not either. If this continued they would likely meet the dawn with nothing to show except exhaustion from a vain battle of wills.

 

“Actually,” she said, leaning somewhat conspiratorially towards Aramina, “I am sure of my intent, even if you are not.” The serving girl bustled in with their tea, and for several moments they busied themselves with the cups. When Carise had put cream and honey in hers, she continued at a measured pace. “The Red Ajah and its network has had its eye on Murandy for several years, ever since the present King developed his first signs of ailing. Perhaps you Greens would had have time enough to let your plans ripen were you not fixing your eyes as usual firmly on the Borderlands and the Blight.” This is my arena, her tone implied.

 

Carise watched Aramina over the edge of her cup as she sipped the slightly sweet tea, but just as the other was about to speak she cut in again. “I would be… amenable,” even as she said the word she felt it was not strong enough to hide her distaste at Aramina’s blatant breach of custom, “to revealing my plans to you only under the promise that you will not interfere in ways that hinder those objectives.”

 

This is as fair a trade-off as you do not deserve, she thought as she looked at her counterpart, though there was nothing in her expression to give Aramina a window to her mind. Show some sense and you and I might actually achieve something here in Murandy. For a fleeting, absurd moment, Carise felt homesick.

 

Carise Doraile

Aes Sedai

Aramina felt the absurdity of the whole thing as she sat sipping her tea. There was no way she would promise the other woman she wouldn't hinder her because she wasn't about to give up her own plans for Murandy.

 

There were times when being in the Green Ajah was difficult, when the stereotypes were a hinderance she could ill afford. Today they were a blessing. Let the woman think the Green Ajah kept it's nose only in the Borderlands. Let her think that a Sister of Aramina's standing had nothing to do with the world in general. She was in Murandy by chance and saw an opportunity. It was laughable since Aramina had settled eyes and ears into Murandy when she had been new to the Shawl but her Ajah's normal 'Brawn's not Brains' reputation was doing her well tonight.

 

She smiled over her tea. "I suppose you'll offer the same? If I tell you my secrets then you'll promise not to interfer with my own plans?" A moment of silence between them and she smiled sweetly at the other woman. "No. I suppose not. Not a nice place to leave things. But I will let you know a thing or two. If you are backing the common man I wouldn't waste much more time. It might be more, advantagious, to look for the long shot." It was as close to saying who she was backing as she was going to get at the moment. It would at least tell her if she had a Sister to contend with on the other side.

 

It might be more, advantageous, to look for the long shot.

 

Carise resisted a temptation to raise her eyebrows. That was a loaded sentence if she had ever heard one. Interpreted in Aramina’s context, perhaps she might be saying that she had other budding plans for the long-term more worthwhile to attend to if someone were already achieving her goals in Murandy. But Carise doubted that was all the Green were hinting at. More likely they were indeed heading towards the same target.

 

“My agents inquiring after the upstarts in Murandy have turned up several names possibly of use to the White Tower,” Allegra had said as they sat over breakfast in her elegant quarters. “Joaquim of the House Vanda stands out from the rest as an asset to us, in my view. House Vanda was not favored by the last King nor was its Head one of his circle of advisers, but I am told that Joaquim is a young man of promise committed to the unification of Murandy in the long-term, and as yet uncorrupted by the lures of Murandian power politics. He might be amenable and effective with a well-placed advisor.”

 

From the inquiries she had instructed him to make, Rondel Aemev had come to a similar conclusion, and Carise had picked House Vanda out as the most promising of the possibles Allegra had pointed out to her. Aemev was also willing to enjoin his House’s support to Joaquim’s should Carise make that final choice. The only obstacle was that House Vanda had for some time been taking a backseat in Murandian politics. However great the promise its candidate for the throne was showing, the first and greatest hurdle would be to garner enough popular and aristocratic support to make a bid.

 

Considering the woman across the table from her, Carise took a sip of her tea and pondered if she was not drawing too far-fetched an inference from the Green’s one statement, offered not under the friendliest of circumstances. But surely Aramina was as tired of dead-lock as she herself. Settling her tea-cup back on the table, she decided to take her chances.

 

“Joaquim of House Vanda.” Carise let the words out evenly. “That would be the greatest chance at a long shot.”

 

Carise Doraile

Of the Red Ajah

 

OOC: Back! I’m so sorry it took so long :P

Aramina took a sip of her tea to keep from smiling. She had hoped that the woman across from her was working the same angle as herself. It could be problematic as they would probably not see eye to eye on how to handle everything, but it was easier to work with a Sister than against her.

 

“Joaquim of House Vanda. That would be the greatest chance at a long shot.”

 

Aramina nodded her head slightly at the words. "There are obstacles for him, but he has great possibilities. The people who do speak his name and know him consider him to be honest and honorable, not something to be said for most of his rivals."

 

She swirled her cup around slightly, deciding on her next words. When she looked up she smiled politely at Carise. "Joaquim of House Vanda would make a good ally to the White Tower. More importantly, he could make Murandy an ally. I am in agreement about the likelihood of this candidate being the best choice for the White Tower."

 

There. Her opinion was out there and if Carise wanted to work with her or separate from her, it was in her lap.

 

Aramina sur Dulciena

Aramina's polite smile brought out an unexpected adverserial impulse in Carise, and for some moments she resisted an impulse to growl at the woman even as she reciprocated with a cool smile. I don't bloody need your agreement, Green.

 

Still, aside from personal vendettas, strategy demanded that she see Aramina as an ally, at least for the short term. I shall be more than glad to get out of Murandy and its snake pit of power play, Carise thought, but meanwhile... The only choices in sight were to continue separately, in competition with Aramina, and risk having various factional tactics being deployed against her depending on which faction of the Tower had sent the Green in the first place, or work with her for the good of the Tower but to the possible detriment of Red Ajah interests in Murandy. It was not a real choice, and Carise sighed inwardly. Any step she made at this point would be cause for scathing scrutiny by her superiors.

 

Perhaps Aramina could be a source for support. Carise herself could command, though Rondel Aemev, the support of one great and several minor allied Houses, but this was not likely to be sufficient without canvassing the support of more of the nobility, not to mention House Vanda itself.

 

"Vanda itself would not be a problem," she continued smoothly. "I have not as yet approached representatives of the House, and, from my inquiries, neither have you. But it is unlikely that, pressed as they are for support, they would reject an offer of Tower aid, even at the price of allegiance. The Red Ajah has... assets... associated with that House that could prove useful, and the likely allegiance of several more, but not sufficient of themselves."

 

Her offer plainly out on the table, Carise took another sip of her tea, placid expression hiding any tinges of curiosity.

 

Carise Doraile

Of the Red Ajah

Aramina nodded to the Red Sister as she spoke of possible allegiances. Part of her was interested to see how this Red Sister would work without hinderance, but she had her own plans in Murandy and she wasn't about to let someone else run roughshod over the plans she had made. She had been working her way into the various houses through one means or another for some time and though her own allegiances were often kept quiet, she had a number of people that she could call upon to support her in this.

 

She smiled again because it seemed to cause a delay time in Carise Sedai's reactions and that fit Aramina just fine. She had no wish for friends in this world, she wanted only allies and she thought perhaps this woman had the intelligence to be that. "Then we are indeed in agreement. If you prefer to make the initial approach to the House, then please go ahead. I will begin putting my people in place." She didn't say that she would be keeping an eye on anything the other woman did, but she didn't think she needed to really.

 

Aramina sur Dulciena