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The Promise of Freedom is but the Net to bind us.
The Vessel of Pleasure leads to the Promise of Pain.
She who was cast out of the Houses of Learning,
will teach the bitterest of lessons.
And the Slicer of the Living,
shall breed the dead.
Foretelling by Kasanda Sedai in 19,897 After Tamyrlin (AT), Second Age.
Entered into the sealed records and analysed by Elan Morin Tedronai Sedai, Head of the Precognitive ajah to First amongst Servants Sofira Lammoor Gaea Sedai in 19,900 AT, Second Age, in the months after the Sharom Tragedy.
Visiting the Academy of the Power was always a strange experience, Barid Bel Medar reflected as he strode down the elstone and jet corridors that had marked his youth. Shining domes and great arches could be glimpsed through tall windows to either side of him as the wings of the Academy sprawled out across its lush grounds in northern Paaran Disen. Even the greatest city in the world made way for the famous buildings that housed arguably its most precious treasure - the future Servants of All. In the distance the First Finger of Hevan could be seen sparkling in the mid morning sun, the wide arc of the river the boundary between the central and northern quarters of the capital.
Students and tutors alike moved out of his path as if he were a sho-wing parting clouds, many dipping their heads in reverence, with some of the younger initiates gaping or giggling in admiration before their peers could shush them. Often it brought a sense of pride; once a boy equal parts ambition and insecurity had walked these halls and aspired to greatness, now he stood almost at the highest pinnacle - a man in his prime with long years of accomplishment and the sure exercise of power behind him. Yet too often these winding ancient halls shucked the layers from Barid Bel, leaving him recalling that boy who had not come from one of the Great Cities, who professed disinterest in popularity yet hungered for the admiration of every classmate, and had had his heart broken several times at the hands of beautiful girls who should have known better.
Barid Bel suppressed a spark of anger and kept his face smooth, his manner courteous, especially for oft repeated compliments regarding the exhibition. Even now, three hundred years later, it was hard for him to forget those he felt had slighted him. Pathetic really, he had not done himself any favours with the long hair he had thought fashionable at the time and the truly abysmal poetry he'd inflicted on a number of his attachments. Fortunately, his skill at gambling and natural prowess in the Power had balanced out the gaucheness of youth, even while they inflated his head. At least until he'd met the woman he was here to see today...
Perhaps he should have just Travelled straight into her antechamber; indeed it may have been wiser, given Barid Bel didn't wish to draw attention to his investigation and he had much to do. Yet the deeper instincts he had always trusted told him to take the longer route through the halls and grounds if only to clear his mind. It seemed to have done the opposite, with the milling throngs of staff and initiates reacting to him like myriad reef fish in the Southern Tropics with a breathy 'Lord Second' or 'Honour to serve' every few paces. However, the only truly odd encounter was when he caught the speculative gaze of a woman - the white on grey of her uniform marking her as a preliminary saidar teacher - in one of the grand atriums. She ignored her white-clad charges as they gathered behind her with an indifference bordering on contempt, which was unusual in and of itself as positions at the Academy were highly sought after. Yet there was something familiar about her shoulder length dark hair and startling blue eyes - the latter the only striking feature about her.
As he passed her without acknowledgement, the woman's stare became momentarily resentful as if he should have known her. Barid Bel felt irritated; she was hardly stunning enough to attract his interest, even if his head wasn't full of Ilyena. Yet memory tugged at him; where had he seen her before?
Collam Daan, of course...He recalled those big blue eyes staring up at him, tear-filled, as he used saidin to shield her and her colleagues from the collapsing domes of the eastern wing, then dragged them to safety on the grassy lawns with flows of Air. She was not the first nor the last Barid Bel and the others had rescued from the disaster, but sadly not all. The Light sear him, Mierin and Beidomon to ash, not all. Unsurprising, he had forgotten it; he only wished he could erase all memories of that day and the nightmares that followed.
Barid Bel hurried on out into the daylight, avoiding the Tesseract - the labyrinthine administrative complex with its startling levels of hanging gardens and water channels, some flowing at impossible angles. He needed to avoid bureaucracy as much as possible today and after Sharom - even with the frequent checks and wards - Barid Bel found himself disliking architectural anomalies outside of Tel'aran'rhiod. However Avendesanasant - the aptly named 'Tree of Knowledge' - was always a welcome sight, towering as it did over the central courtyard before the Tesseract. The great chora - one of the very first saplings of the original chora construct - had presided over the square for centuries, its trefoil leaves giving relief and contentment to countless troubled students in their time. Many were grouped under its thick branches now with notebooks or ter'angreal readers and still more gossiping, eating and laughing, reminding Barid Bel of the simplicity of youth.
Everything I or the Hall do affects them and the citizens. We mustn't forget that in our manoeuvrings...he thought, the implicit trust suddenly weighing on him all the heavier.
One Academy-marked jo-car ride and a quick if commanding pace, took Barid Bel to the staff offices and lodgings on the far side of the grounds, its colonnades visible even at a distance. At least on reaching in the older staff quarters the crowds had thinned, although an old man in the daze lecturers often possessed almost bumped into him on the entrance stairs and then decided, after a hurried apology, to take up his time.
"We don't often have the pleasure, Barid Bel Aes Sedai," Henric Tensun said, his wild white hair and watery blue-grey eyes so much the picture of an aged scholar, Barid Bel hid a smile in spite of his mood. "Your seminars are always a highlight for the entire school."
"The Light illumine you, Henric Aes Sedai, sadly I seldom have the time, much as I'd like to."
"Of course, of course, I shall not trouble you further, Lord Second. The Pattern seems more tangled with every moment," Henric huffed, looking every year of his five centuries of life. Even for Aes Sedai age eventually crept up, yet Henric had not been Barid Bel's teacher during his sojourn here.
"Students taxing you, Henric Aes Sedai?" Barid Bel said mildly, keeping up the honorific since it seemed to please the man.
"Life taxes me, at my age and strength I think it would anyone. These are days for young men, I feel," Henric smiled, and glanced over his shoulder briefly through the geometric stained glass window of the entryway. It overlooked one of the Academy's many fields and gardens where a class of black-clad male initiates were being taught how to spin Water and Wind - the two elements traditionally more difficult for men. Despite their teacher's diligent efforts, the class periodically doused each other with the nearby tributaries and fountains to whoops of laughter.
Barid Bel snored, remembering his own version of that lesson three hundred years ago when he had managed to dump the majority of a stream on Lews Therin as an 'accident'. In fairness, his friend had imprisoned him in a block of stone the week before, also 'by accident', so they were even.
"Perhaps, although the young often benefit from the wisdom of their elders," Barid Bel replied, recalled the reason for his visit and the pressing schedule after it. Still, he paused. "...Speaking of which, Henric Sedai, do you recall Ared Mosinel? He was your predecessor, yes?"
The older man hesitated, his lips pursing in a frown, "No, Lord Second. I never met him in person. Usually the etiquette is for the one leaving the post to arrange a proper exchange of the particulars - to make the transition smooth as possible. But he left very abruptly and the senior leadership wanted a complete change so I had to start afresh. The Hall was involved too, I think, at the time," he scratched his silvery beard absently. " I was never told the reason...family matters was the rumour going around, but it was a long time ago. Well before Sharom. "
That did seem to be the marker for everything these days..."Before Sharom everything was well." "We never saw these kinds of troubles before Sharom..." Barid Bel wondered at that - the world had hardly been perfect even then. Although compared to now...
How Mierin must feel it...Although I doubt it. The woman never gave much heed to anyone's feelings but her own. Barid Bel still couldn't believe the audacity of her turning up unannounced last night, he'd almost forgotten it in the furore of Setaisha Val's appearance with Ared or Elan Morin's later on. And Ilyena, of all people, wanting to go for his throat! A puzzle Barid Bel had not yet unravelled. I must speak to her about that...
He resisted running a hand through jet black hair. Calm was necessary, especially in times of strife, and if not from the mind then one must control the body first to corral the mind. So he had been taught in this very place. Instinctively, Barid Bel sought the Oneness and was enveloped in its emptiness, although he did not reach for the waiting saidin. Henric had been talking - what had he said?
"It is of little matter," Barid Bel replied to Henric's questioning, pretending he'd heard and keeping the coldness of the Oneness from his voice. "I was merely curious..."
"He was your tutor, was he not?" Henric asked, "for a few classes at least, even though I know his focus was on the saidar to saidin transition like myself."
"For a time," Barid Bel replied dismissively. "Truth to tell, I think he disliked dealing with us unruly youths. Not that I blame him."
Henric chuckled, "Some of my colleagues would have you believe men cause all the trouble at that age, but I ask them to take one of my classes and see that women can't be just as headstrong and obstinate. The old adage has never been more true - 'Tis not gender nor Power that causes strife, it is people!'"
Barid Bel's lips quirked. His research on the First and Seventh Ages certainly proved that; they hadn't even had access to the Power then. Then recalling his earlier unease, he opened his mouth to politely - but firmly - end the conversation.
"It has been many years since taking this role and I'm dearly grateful for the honour," Henric rolled over him, leaving frustration mounting outside the Oneness, "although I don't mind telling you, Lord Second, it wasn't easy taking over from such a man. He was dearly loved by his students."
"I can well imagine," Barid Bel said with a fixed smile. Until they grew old enough to see past the gilded veneer..."I'm sure they appreciate you now however, I know the Hall does." He rested a brief hand on the man's shoulder, "And as such, I shall not keep you from them."
Leaving Henric beaming, Barid Bel strode on, deftly weaving past interruptions and further distractions. The arched corridors with their multicoloured floor-length windows and intricately worked sandstone columns became plainer and panelled in thick mahogany - a nod to the architect's notion of what a First Age's institute of higher learning might have looked like. Each niche had its own statue or painting. There were few records left of such things, but it did feel like turning the Wheel back or indeed forward to walk through all of it.
I could do without more of the First Age though...Barid Bel thought as he reached his destination at last, bowed into a suite of fairly humble apartments by a smiling Da'shain man. Everything from greed and corruption through to lust and violence seemed to be returning...but would war? In an Age built for peace that was the real question. Centuries past, he had been the sole expert on the martial arts and had been made to feel a lone voice crying once again in the wilderness.
Now, he thought...now would that were true...The less experts on war the better...But had the exhibition helped or hindered that cause? Only time would tell...
"Tamira Sedai will be with you shortly, Lord Second," Erid - at least that is what Barid Bel thought his name was - said. After being offered refreshments he was left blissfully alone in Tamira's figure of eight-shaped office - she trained her Da'shain as well as her students. The room was not large - not compared to his own offices at the Hall of the Servants only a few miles away across the city - yet it gave the impression of both warmth and space, likely from the larger than life personality of its owner. He stood in the lower circle which comprised of a comfortable seating area to his left where he could still remember sitting as a young man and reluctantly pouring out his woes. The designs of the furnishings had changed, but the chairs and table had not - good, sturdy Nasallan make where Tamira hailed from. A few plinths held the expected ter'angreal - receivers, transcribers and the like, but the walls were mainly dominated by shelves of books interspersed by holograms, ornaments and gifts, many coming from the students she'd mentored over the years. The majority were male - given she was foremost amongst the female teachers for guiding men newly graduated from mastering saidin to embrace saidar instead - but there were more than a few women too and those that eschewed the gender binary all together.
Perusing them whilst he waited, Barid Bel saw the famous but still timid looking Alessos Galen Eos - the great scientist - and musicians Gabellia Tia Ma'at and Phaaros Orphet Cressit amongst many others. The shelving flowed up in elegant but not ostentatious curving lines to the raised circle above, encircling a solid wooden desk with a large window overlooking the grounds beyond. The flooring was polished stone and at its outer edge Barid Bel could still catch hints of original carved inlay - a serpent biting its own tail that looped around the circumference of the figure of eight room. Tamira had covered it up with an old rug. Of course she did...The oldest symbol of Time they had, older than that of the Wheel - the shape of the Ring of Tamyrlin itself - and she covered it up with a practical, if slightly worn rug!
Barid Bel's mouth twitched in an almost smile even as amusement slid off the void, then he stepped up to the raised section that held her desk. He didn't look at the cluttered files on the desk itself - he was no prier - but went instead to the holographic image glowing in pride of place next to it. Within it two tall men in ceremonial regalia flanked a short, squat woman with iron grey hair. They were all laughing; Lews Therin slightly in the foreground had been caught mid guffaw in a shocked expression that made him look boyish and genuinely charming for once. Barid Bel himself standing to the woman's left with his arm still on her shoulder was wearing a scandalised grin as he stared at her in disbelief. Despite all his current anxiety, Barid Bel found himself chuckling, the Oneness slipping away. Tamira was staring right at the viewer with a gleeful expression that screamed she knew exactly what she'd just said and she'd say it again in an instant, even if she was clasping the two most powerful men in the world. Likely because of it. Being raised to Lords Second had not saved either of them from her bawdy humour and thank the Light for that. Not that he would ever admit to it of course...
"Sneaking into my things again?"
He started at the voice behind him and whirled, becoming an eighteen year old boy for a moment, before smiling and setting down the object with a small bow. "My apologies, Tamira Sedai, "he replied with customary outer calm. "Merely reminiscing..."
"In that case, Lord Second, I'll accept your most humble apology," Tamira grinned up at him, "And you can accept mine for being late."
Dressed in a plain but well-tailored trouser-suit contrasted by bold silver earrings - her sole concession to jewellery aside from a simple wedding band - Tamira was a plump, stocky woman with dark, twinkling eyes and chin length grey hair. Her face, he was ashamed to admit, he had thought toad-like on first meeting her, but now the wide gash of a mouth with its near perpetual smile seemed fairer than many a woman he'd once considered beautiful.
Her voice was ebullient and husky as ever as she marched up the short steps to meet him, "Now, are we still being formal or do I get to greet my favourite student properly?"
"Not favourite, surely," Barid Bel smirked, glancing over to Jaric Naboan Hermanes' patented arrogant face smirking from a hologram on her desk next to her family's. Is that a House of Merced emblem next to it? he thought on recognising the three-pronged star symbol. Little wonder he's her favourite if he's giving her priceless relics like that! Barid Bel almost felt guilty. "Lews Therin and I know where we stand."
"So do I," Tamira harrumphed, "three times my height and looming over me! Now get down here," she laughed and they embraced fondly.
"Ah, Barid Bel," she smiled, looking him up and down as they parted, "royal blue looks well on you, like everything else. And thank the Light you actually know how to use scent, I've had to ban some of the lads from wearing any, else I can't embrace the Source without wanting to gag. Takes them about twenty years to work out ladies and a few more discerning gentleman are actually repelled by the cheap stuff."
He snorted, "At least they bathe..."
"Ugh, yes. I should hope so before we have to douse them in the Igris. Thankfully, as you know, Malik and the others deal with house training before they get to me, although sometimes I wonder..."
"I can well imagine," Baric Bel said then paused before they could get lost in the usual banter. "Tamira, first let me offer my sincerest condolences on the passing of your husband," He punctuated this with a deeper bow. His family were a few hundred years dead, but their impeccable manners lived on.
She grunted, her expression falling for a moment as her eyes went to one of the nearest images on the desk. "Thank you..." she sighed, then shrugged, grin returning although more tremulously. "Cadmus died surrounded by friends and family. He was happy...suppose that's all we can hope for in the end...a good death. My own fault really, I will keep marrying non-channellers, he was my third, the Light shine on him..." she touched a knuckle to her eyes and Barid Bel glanced away in respect. A moment later her voice picked up as if her sadness had never been. "Although, I've been doing this job so long I doubt I'll ever see a male Aes Sedai as anything other than one of my boys," she said, smirking back at him.
Barid Bel couldn't help but chuckle again. He suspected whatever his accomplishments he would go to his grave still being one of her 'boys'. Strangely, it never rankled the way it would have if another had said so.
"I'm sorry I could not attend the funeral-"
"Oh hush, I knew neither you nor Lews Therin could. Besides you sent your condolences at the time. So what's this about?" Tamira walked round the desk and lifted a periodical, smacking the front page picture of him and Ilyena at the exhibition - Ilyena looked ravishing of course. Light, I can still feel her in my arms...still see her smile... "And I should be bowing and congratulating you, eh, man of the hour that you are. Although, Barid Bel," she continued in a conspiratorial tone before he could get a word in edgeways, "if you haven't snagged Ilyena Moerelle yet you are a Light-blinded fool and less skilled with women than the press, the Hall and yourself evidently believe-"
Barid Bel's smile was wiped from his face. I know she is forward, but still- "-And don't you look all stone faced at me, you know it's true," Tamira continued pleasantly. "She won't be unattached for long, looking like that. You need to seize the moment like saidin," she snapped her fingers. "Especially if Lews Therin is sniffing around. He was there, wasn't he?" she asked sharply before he could interject, as inexorable as an avalanche. "I remember only too well what you two were like normally, let alone when a pretty girl was involved."
"If I may, Tamira Sedai," Barid Bel cut in finally, using her honorific in the hopes it would remind her of his own, and her relation to it. Her airy smile said it did and she didn't care. " To answer your first question, I am here on official business..." At that she straightened and her face became more serious. And because he didn't forget a slight, no matter how well meaning, he added the latter, "And as for the second enquiry that is none of your concern...Although you will undoubtedly be amongst the first to hear... should there be any developments..."
Her frown transformed at that last. "Then I'll look forward to it," she said, outwardly contrite but with the usual irreverent gleam in her dark eyes. "To business then, Lord Second," she said, waving him towards the seats. "Do you have time for tea? Kaf? Since we're both allegedly working, I'm afraid I can't offer anything more medicinal at this hour."
He didn't really have time, but her Emar Dal blend was to die for and he'd barely had chance for his usual cup this morning nor anything more substantial, even though Beltherie had threatened in the gentlest possible terms to force food bodily down him the next meal he skipped. How she managed that in line with the Covenant he never understood, but the threat was there all the same.
I'll wager Lews Therin never has to put up with Da'shain that practically bully him...
"Kaf, if you would," he said, sitting on a cushioned seat and watching her usual rapid grace in the homely preparation, touching the Source only briefly to heat the water. He'd seen Aes Sedai make every household task an excuse to channel, but teachers in particular were disciplined in their dependence on the Power, given how often they had to use it. Yet soon the delicious aroma of spices waffed up from kaf as black as midnight in Larcheen; Barid Bel nursed it, mulling over his words before he spoke.
"You've been a tutor here for a long time, Tamira," he mused as if in idle reflection, "as have Henric and some of the others...But few of them as long as you..."
"Light," Tamira said as she crossed her legs and took a draught of her own kaf once it had been liberally laced with honey, "I hope the Hall haven't sent you as a sweetener to force me into retirement. If you actually want to kill me for my sins, bring a binder instead."
"Never," he smiled and after a pause continued in the same mild tone as he stirred his kaf, "Do you recall Ared Mosinel? He had Henric's position once, I saw him at the gallery reception and..." he trailed off seeing her expression. Tamira was an expressive woman, but, although he'd certainly witnessed her occasionally explosive temper, there were few things that could really rile her out of her jovial confidence. Now her eyes were flinty and her generous mouth flattened into a hard, pursed line.
"Not a friend of yours?" Barid Bel said dryly.
"You could say that," she retorted and her face became smooth. "But what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Why not?" he pressed.
"Does it matter?" Tamira took another sip with a grimace. "Or is he the 'official business'?" Her look was back to being amused, but her eyes were still cold.
Interesting...
Barid Bel weighed his options. He needed the truth. And despite his finesse, he doubted he could outwit her anyway; she was too shrewd and knew him far too well.
He placed his cup down, seized saidin briefly and warded the room. A ter'angreal statuette on a shelf shaped like a two young lovers whispering secrets in each other's ears glowed briefly with a barely perceptible chime. Tamira raised a brow but said nothing, setting her own cup down and watching him now over steepled hands.
"I said this was official business, Tamira," Barid Bel said, holding her gaze with his own, "but frankly I want it off the record. I can trust in your discretion?"
"Of course."
"So then... Ared Mosinel. I want your views on him. You must have known him from your time as faculty."
"It was a long time ago," she said coolly.
"But you have a good memory," he replied. "As we've already established..."
Her lips twisted, but her face and voice were calm. "Barid Bel, everything relating to Mosinel is held confidentially by the Academy's senior leadership and of course the Hall itself. You're the one with the high clearance, surely you've checked the files?"
"That's just it, Tamira," Barid Bel said, leaning back. "There was a clerical error some time ago or possibly a power surge, but the files are all gone."
Her brows rose sharply. "Gone?"
"Entirely. And no-one seems to remember much about him and his actions beyond the charm, especially his early career before he surfaced again recently in the Fifth Dominion."
Tamira had gone very still; her eyes were narrow, still assessing him, yet he could also feel her mind wandering, weighing. His heart began to sink, instincts ringing in his head like dice. So. There was more to this than he thought...
Just what are you hiding, Ared...
"And he's in Jalanda now, " Tamira said, her voice tight. "On the arm of one of the most dangerous women in the world..."
"Just so," Barid Bel nodded. The press had outed that secret at last. Not that they'd bothered to hide it. Poor Ram...
Tamira took in a breath, glared at him briefly then took up her kaf and downed it. "I don't see what gossiping with an old teacher can do about it."
This isn't like you...Why are you holding back, Tamira? Does he have something on even you?
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't relevant," Barid Bel leaned forward.
"So seeing your beloved mentor wasn't enough- " Tamira began wryly.
"-What do you know, Tamira," Barid Bel cut in coldly and she blinked as if seeing him for the first time. "If I need to make it an order from the Lord Second, I will. But out of respect for our friendship..."
"I understand," she burst out and then shook - with fury unless he missed his guess wildly. "May I ask for your discretion now, Lord Second?"
The formality in her tone cut, but if it had to be... "Naturally."
She sprang up and walked over to the book shelf, gripping the sung wood and composing herself. Then she turned back with her usual smile in place. "You want to know my true thoughts? Then with all due respect, Barid Bel Aes Sedai, Ared Mosinel is a steaming pile of choss. A vile snake of a man. And if I'd have gotten my hands on him, as I almost did at the time before the Hall intervened, his rancid tsag would be spitted and roasted over a slow fire while he watched!"
Barid Bel blinked at the litany. Expressions of violence were increasingly commonplace now and Tamira's language was often...colourful. But this...
She looked entirely unrepentant. "You wanted the truth."
"So I did," he replied quietly. "But what I don't yet know is why."
"Because he's a Light-forsaken predator, Barid!" Tamira exclaimed.
Barid Bel was so shocked he let the old familiar use of his first name pass. "Predator? The students?"
"Yes!" Tamira replied, looking disgusted, her fists even balled at her sides.
Barid Bel stood up, "How was this even countenanced? What happened?" Part of him did not want to know; the thought of what might have occurred disgusted him. Light, I jested with the fellow about women! Lews Therin and I both did! Surely, Tamira is overreacting. Yet he had never known her to in all these years, not about something like this. Why else had he come if not for her trusted opinion? Looking back at her, he could tell she was reading his thoughts grimly before she spoke.
"You are the Lord Second. You can command me if you wish, but, Barid Bel, remember these are sensitive matters. I'm not concerned for my own reputation or what that degenerate can do to me with all his new apparent allies...but in digging this up you rouse a good deal from slumber."
"But if justice needs to be served..."
"Justice!" she laughed with none of her usual warmth. "Do not speak to me of justice. Not when he was allowed to walk free without even a declaration of his crimes. If justice had been done at the time, he would not be here to cause this trouble!"
Unbidden, Nemene Damendar Boann's face flashed before Barid Bel's eyes, the memory of the delegation of the victims' families - a few of the many - at last month's trial returning to him.
"If you had acted sooner she would have been found out!"
" If you had acted sooner my daughter-"
" -my son-"
"-my father would still be alive!"
"Aren't the Aes Sedai supposed to protect us?"
"-Servants of All? No, you only serve yourselves!-"
"-She was one of you, wasn't she? You let her get away."
"You let her get away with this!"
Barid Bel hadn't been to blame. He had been only a Counsellor for the Hall then and had never met the woman in person. When her crimes came to light he and some of others had pushed repeatedly to declare her publicly for the menace she was as soon as she fled, but they had been rebuffed. The Hall's reputation had been at stake. And now look at the Hall's reputation...covering up for a torturer; a woman who had been vaunted as one of the greatest of Aes Sedai. Now this...if it was revealed they couldn't even protect their own, let alone the public, how long would the citizens hold faith? And if public confidence slipped any further...He wasn't responsible then, but he was now; being Lord Second made it so. Come what may, Barid Bel would honour the oath he made when he'd been ordained a Servant of All and left these grounds all those years ago.
Honour to serve...
"Tell me what happened, Tamira," he said quietly as he retook his seat, body and mind stilling as if he floated in the Oneness.
She huffed, striding around the room then back to him. Eventually, she took a deep breath and sat back down. Then the words began to spill from her. "He joined only a few years after me. Everyone was astir...Light, I think even some of the women who had no interest in men were struck by him initially, and the men!" Tamira shook her head. "Malik and I had more than a few young fellows in here wrestling with their own leanings, shall we say! Ared...the Light curse the man, he seemed initially the quintessential male Aes Sedai - the most powerful - I've only heard of Lews Therin and Elan Morin who can match him for raw strength-" she trailed off, seeing Barid Bel's brief scowl and gave him a pointed look before continuing, "and in looks...well, I never cared for the type of course, and he was far too vain even then, but I can't deny the effect he had. I used to make endless jests about it," she sighed, looking slightly sickened and then continued. "I knew even then it was a fool's idea to hire someone as attractive as him. Infatuations are expected, students are young and growing and just out from under their parents' eyes. And you can't wield the Power that drives the Universe itself without gaining a halo, so to speak. Light knows, I had the most awful fixation on several of my own teachers growing up..."
"Truly?" Barid Bel said, despite himself. It was hard to imagine Tamira as anything but the self-assured older woman he had always known. Thinking of her as a flighty girl felt wrong somehow, especially as a substantial number of his own peers had ended up having a similar fixation on her by the end of their time here...
"Of course," she grinned then the smile dropped. "They were wise enough to nip things in the bud when necessary without injuring my already inflated pride! Oh, I cried myself to sleep for a few weeks and then got on with it. An attachment like that is harmless, but Ared..." Tamira ground her teeth. "The worse thing is how long it took us to realise it was more than the expected adolescent one-sided passion. We had coteries of female students obsessed with him, dancing in attendance like pets in the end! Each one of them a promising young woman. You know, depending on strength and aptitude, they don't pass their initial saidar training until mid to late twenties mostly - so hardly children when they begin with saidin - but some of them were younger. But it wouldn't matter if they were a century old, Barid Bel!" Tamira exclaimed suddenly. "The role is sacred. Once in this position of power you cannot betray it by conflating it with a sexual relationship."
"So he did that?" Barid Bel asked.
"Oh yes," Tamira's lips twisted in disgust. "He denied it of course, when the truth finally began to emerge. Tried to blame the young women, pretend it was all in their heads! We still can't put a true figure on how many he groomed, but it had to have been at least ten if not more. Yes, 'groomed', Barid Bel," she asserted when he raised a brow at the unfamiliar usage of the word, "like an animal you wish to tame! He did not force himself on any of them, I believe that at least, although if I could be sure of-"
"Of what?" Barid Bel said, bile rising in him. The very concept of all of this was anathema to him despite all the horrors he'd had to inure himself to in the last few decades. One of our own!
"That the Power hadn't been involved..."
Barid Bel's eyes widened. They had reports of that. It was Sealed to the Hall and the special enforcement divisions, but the figures were increasing -the Light burn those responsible!- but back then? "That must have been almost three centuries ago," he said, concealing his dismay "and in such a prominent role surrounded by other Aes Sedai. Do you truly believe-"
"It was less than that. He'd been here for decades before the rot set in. Or so the investigation concluded. As for the Power, I don't know," Tamira said, taking up her cup and looking at it sourly as if she wished it were wine or at least not empty. "We had Restorers skilled with the brain examine the girls just in case. Nothing. Although, the snake was subtle, Barid Bel. Who knows what webs he could have perfected? If they could have evaporated before the examination... Yet, let's be frank, he didn't need to, not with that face and form. Restorers..." she snorted angrily. "Many of the girls were so traumatised by the whole affair they needed healers of the mind too. Traumatised by the loss of him, you understand. The fact we forced him to resign, the fact it wasn't just they who were the special ones, but their friends and rivals too. Oh yes. That and when it became clear he wanted nothing to do with any of them after the game was up."
Barid Bel stayed silent, his mind spinning. Unconsciously, he again sought the Oneness yet the void would not form. Too many emotions raced through him and the kaf churned unpleasantly in his gut.
"One of the girls even found herself with child," Tamira continued. "She lost it...and ended her own life as a consequence..."
Barid Bel sat back, his face still unreadable, yet within him fury bubbled. How had he never heard of this? Or Lews Therin or any of their staff? They had moved in the highest circles for a least a century now, yet there was no rumour about Ared beyond the expected dislike of his arrogance, ambition and wandering eyes. True, he seemed confined to regional politics -now the reason for that became clear!- yet much of the rumours, if one was inclined towards impartiality, could be attributed to jealousy of the fellow's natural gifts as Ared had implied.
"All this should have resulted in a binding at least, as well as a public sentencing," Barid Bel said at last. "Frankly, from what you say, being severed and cast out should have been on the table too." That would have been his first choice - a student had killed herself? How dare he!
"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" Tamira said, "You'd think it would be all over the news-casts and periodicals at least!"
"So what was done?" Not enough, clearly...
She scowled at him, "It was handled by a sub-committee at the time and Sealed to the Hall."
'Sealed to the Hall' meant bound within the circle of Counsellors of the Hall - the high council that directed and adjudicated all Aes Sedai affairs, including the Hall itself - and all before Barid Bel's time.
"That," Tamira continued, "and the governors here - some of which he clearly had his claws in...No, I can't prove that either," she said in response to his expression. "But think on it after you've heard the result. It took a long time to investigate -too long- and they all wanted secrecy, allegedly to preserve the dignity of the girls and their families. Eventually, he was stripped of his position, forced to pay heavy compensation and ordered never to work with students or vulnerable adults again. Nor in any of the central Dominions for that matter..."
"They put him out to pasture?" Barid Bel sneered, his brain reevaluating all of Ared's sly comments in this new light. "That's all? What about the binding - he's a criminal!"
Tamira looked at him as if he was a child, "Too strong, my dear. A waste."
"You cannot be serious!" he hissed, all pretence at calm evaporating.
"You know the bias regarding strength, and, as I said, only two living can match him in both capacity and potential skill."
"It can't be just that." Everyone crowed over Lews Therin and Elan Morin's raw strength and array of Talents, yet setting men like himself aside, I can draw only slightly less; the smallest margin of difference!, if one did an actual survey of the global population there were many who could have the highest potential for strength in the Power...True, many did not wish to take on the commitment that training and living as an Aes Sedai required, despite its superlative benefits; yet even so it proved a man like Ared Mosinel was not that special... Besides, he didn't have the Talents Lews Therin and Barid Bel himself had, aside from being able to hide his perversions in plain sight it seemed... And nothing - not even being someone of Barid Bel or Lews Therin's calibre with their contributions to society - justified the abuse of trust and position that Mosinel had committed.
"No-one is above the law," he ground out. The highest position requires the greatest level of decorum. Ared... Tamira isn't the only one who is going to roast you over a slow fire...
"I'm glad to hear you say it, Barid Bel," Tamira said. "I had wondered...given how long you've been with the Hall..."
Barid Bel looked at his former mentor sharply, "What do you mean?"
She gave him a sidelong look as hard as his own, "The Hall takes care of itself, Barid Bel. Surely you've have seen it? It was all over the news-casts when talking about that monster Nemene Damendar only last month. And she's far from the first."
Barid Bel raised his chin, "Remember to whom you speak," he said softly.
"I remember!" Tamira hissed, undaunted, "I remember the man I tutored - the man who had the capacity to be the greatest Aes Sedai of the Age. Who earned the Third Name in his first fifty years! You could be months away from being First amongst Servants, Barid Bel, but don't forget the meaning behind the name like the others have. We are servants to the people - not for the acclaim, not for the power, but because it is what the Creator made us for!"
"I do not need a lecture, Tamira," he said, rising to his feet again, although inside a small part of him thrilled at the thought she believed him so close to the title of First. "I'm well aware of the responsibility."
She huffed, then leaned back, arms crossed. "What will you do then? If I may ask?"
"You may, but I will not answer, Tamira Sedai, not yet at least. And remember this too is Sealed to the Hall. In fact, I would prefer it if you spoke to no-one else regarding it until I give you leave. And tell me confidentially if another asks you similar questions."
She nodded slowly as he spoke, looking more and more troubled. "It will be as you say. Although, Barid Bel, those girls - they may be women now, but take care with them, won't you?" Her dark eyes flashed - no amount of rank would stop Tamira from defending her flock.
Barid Bel softened his tone, "You may be assured both of my discretion and of my sensitivity." Then he gave her another small bow as he seized the Source, preparing a net to Travel. "Thank you, Tamira," he said more normally. "I appreciate your candour. It may take awhile, but he will not escape justice a second time. You have my word on that."
Although, how am I to achieve it? Arresting Setaisha Val's lover, especially on such a charge, could be the spark that set the whole board ablaze. And after the effort he and Ilyena had fielded in calming things down during the gala... Yes, this will need to be handled very carefully indeed...
Tamira nodded almost absently as her gaze became distant. "I wonder, Barid Bel..." She rubbed her arms in an unconscious, unfamiliar show of nerves. "The world seems to be running out of control. One problem is solved and another ten take its place..."
"I didn't take you for a Foreteller or a Dreamer," Barid Bel replied as the familiar line of the gateway formed beside him in the air. "The news-casts don't tell everything - good or bad."
"A feeling on the wind...Something is coming..." she shivered, then shook herself and laughed half-heartedly. "I am getting old! Light help me, maybe I should retire!"
He gave her a crooked smile as the crystalline chime in answer to his own notified him the way was clear to complete the gateway, "If something bad is coming, Tamira, we'll have more need of those like you, not less. Fare you well."
He stepped through into his own offices at the Hall of the Servants to the sound of her rich laughter as the gateway began to close.
"Light help us all then, Barid Bel," she grinned as the gateway winked out.
Light help us all...he thought in echo of her words as he surveyed the large marble antechamber and beyond with its now habitual maelstrom of activity. Exiting one of the more compact Travelling chambers carved out of the sides of the main room, he was greeted by several clerks and Da'shain already needing him yesterday for myriad tasks.
One predator loose on the world, Barid Bel couldn't stop thinking, a second whispering in the ear of a woman about to drag the world into war if she can't be stopped. And the Light knows how many more operating in the shadows...
And something worse...Something that had all his instincts screaming. Ared Mosinel's files had mysteriously disappeared decades ago and his sentence at the time had been reduced to a mere slap on the wrist. Nemene Damendar had vanished, but she was never attainted until public pressure became unbearable. And Elan Morin Tedronai... Elan Morin who had been foremost amongst those who argued for silence and delay. Elan Morin who had been head of the Precognitive ajah since before Sharom. Elan Morin who apparently could circumvent the most sophisticated security measures at the gala and appear so conveniently to warn him and Lews Therin of an even greater threat - a shadow rising...A shadow only he could aid them with apparently.
Elan Morin who Ilyena, of all people, hated...
It was the first time he'd ever seen his old teacher truly afraid. What was worse, behind his reserve, Barid Bel couldn't convince himself he was not afraid too...