01-18-2018, 01:16 PM
Following the afternoon tea with Nythadri, Lythia journeyed to the Black Tower. Her path to the M'Hael was unguarded, but she had been unable to sway the man from his decision concerning Jai. She, like so many others, found herself surprised at the role Lennox would come to play in all of it. Yet despite the strange ending- Why the sword? What was its significance? - her unease was not so strong as to keep her from moving on. Instead, she would come to rely on Aileen Sedai to keep a close eye on further developments. Eyes saw broadly and Ears heard every corridor, but informants in the Black Tower were largely unprepared to act should circumstances arise. Aileen was probably the only Green Sister who knew the ways of the Black Tower as intimately as Lythia. Although Aileen's perspective came from the ground floor up, whereas Lythia's peered from the heights down. Together their views provided a great perspective of Black Tower life, and they understood the men who held it up. Aileen would do well making sure Jai remained okay, and thus fulfilled that part of Lythia's bargain with their new aspirant. If she cares at all. She hadn't seemed too interested. Maybe I overestimated things.
Thoughts for puzzling out the M'Hael were soon put aside as well. Lythia understood why the man had done what he had, for all the political reasons, nationally, and with his own men. He had to rule with an iron fist. Shadow had done much the same. Yet at the same time, had been completely different.
Now, she was taken to Caemlyn to fulfill the more difficult side of her bargain. Ellomai was not staying at the palace today, but rather in one of the guest quarters at the nearby school. Ellomai had the mind of a Brown in this regard. She could dig through a mountain of information and come away with the one detail she needed that a table of scholars would otherwise miss. Yet her heart was never swayed by the Browns. She knew the day she came to Tar Valon that she would be a Green. For she had left Malkier just before her homeland was overrun by the Blight, and she never forgot what it was like.
It was at the school that Lythia met Ellomai. They would have time and privacy to talk without interruption. Nor would Lythia suspect anyone would think anything odd about Aes Sedai meeting in such a location. It was politically neutral, after all. There, Ell showed Lythia the copies of things that had stolen the focus of the young man that rainy day at the Archives. The paperwork meant nothing to Lythia for the most part of their meeting, for she spent the majority of the time listening to Ell guide her through it all. Much the same was in the report that started this whole affair, but there was something to be said about looking at things with your own eyes rather than just reading about them.
"Keep up the good work, Ell. And keep digging. Oh before I go, I forgot to ask you. You recognized his sword, didn't you?"
The Sister was a bubbly woman. She was quick to smile, unless she was working, then she was difficult to rouse from concentration. However, when her lips pursed to a grim line, the gray in her hair seemed all the brighter, and the saddness seemed to surface. So, Ell had known it. "And it was--?"
She nodded sadly. Then Lythia did as well. It explained so much, and her heart understood the breaking that had been Jai's. She couldn't bring herself to tell Ell it was destroyed now. The entire nation was almost completely erased from existence. "I'll be in contact. Go in the Light, Sister."
The two Greens parted, warders flanking each as they went.
Armed with fresh knowledge, Lythia knew Mishael Vanditera and his daughters left town. It wasn't a spectacularly notable event, but then again, she had been looking for it. Events going on at the bank in question were relatively unchanged, since affairs of this sort took a long time to process. They were still organizing the charges they were levying at Matias Winther, who in turn, was levying his own charges back at them. Grays were already sparking up talks between the two groups, and mediating between them and the Queen's men. But Matias had plenty to keep him busy, as more and more he redirected attention from his financial frustrations toward the proximity of the Black Tower. So far, nobody seemed aware that anything unusual was going on at all with the Vanditeras. Lythia intended to make sure it stayed that way. Ellomai would be in town anyway, but she would make sure they were well advised once they returned. This left Lythia free to spend the remainder of her trip in Caemlyn working damage control on the war waged against her brothers.
Thoughts for puzzling out the M'Hael were soon put aside as well. Lythia understood why the man had done what he had, for all the political reasons, nationally, and with his own men. He had to rule with an iron fist. Shadow had done much the same. Yet at the same time, had been completely different.
Now, she was taken to Caemlyn to fulfill the more difficult side of her bargain. Ellomai was not staying at the palace today, but rather in one of the guest quarters at the nearby school. Ellomai had the mind of a Brown in this regard. She could dig through a mountain of information and come away with the one detail she needed that a table of scholars would otherwise miss. Yet her heart was never swayed by the Browns. She knew the day she came to Tar Valon that she would be a Green. For she had left Malkier just before her homeland was overrun by the Blight, and she never forgot what it was like.
It was at the school that Lythia met Ellomai. They would have time and privacy to talk without interruption. Nor would Lythia suspect anyone would think anything odd about Aes Sedai meeting in such a location. It was politically neutral, after all. There, Ell showed Lythia the copies of things that had stolen the focus of the young man that rainy day at the Archives. The paperwork meant nothing to Lythia for the most part of their meeting, for she spent the majority of the time listening to Ell guide her through it all. Much the same was in the report that started this whole affair, but there was something to be said about looking at things with your own eyes rather than just reading about them.
"Keep up the good work, Ell. And keep digging. Oh before I go, I forgot to ask you. You recognized his sword, didn't you?"
The Sister was a bubbly woman. She was quick to smile, unless she was working, then she was difficult to rouse from concentration. However, when her lips pursed to a grim line, the gray in her hair seemed all the brighter, and the saddness seemed to surface. So, Ell had known it. "And it was--?"
She nodded sadly. Then Lythia did as well. It explained so much, and her heart understood the breaking that had been Jai's. She couldn't bring herself to tell Ell it was destroyed now. The entire nation was almost completely erased from existence. "I'll be in contact. Go in the Light, Sister."
The two Greens parted, warders flanking each as they went.
Armed with fresh knowledge, Lythia knew Mishael Vanditera and his daughters left town. It wasn't a spectacularly notable event, but then again, she had been looking for it. Events going on at the bank in question were relatively unchanged, since affairs of this sort took a long time to process. They were still organizing the charges they were levying at Matias Winther, who in turn, was levying his own charges back at them. Grays were already sparking up talks between the two groups, and mediating between them and the Queen's men. But Matias had plenty to keep him busy, as more and more he redirected attention from his financial frustrations toward the proximity of the Black Tower. So far, nobody seemed aware that anything unusual was going on at all with the Vanditeras. Lythia intended to make sure it stayed that way. Ellomai would be in town anyway, but she would make sure they were well advised once they returned. This left Lythia free to spend the remainder of her trip in Caemlyn working damage control on the war waged against her brothers.