Chapter Text
The song had bloomed in her brain for a few days, and it was definitely too good to keep to herself. After a month as an Accepted at the White Tower, the excitement of the early days had faded, and Moraine chaffed against the discipline imposed on them. Therefore, she eagerly shared her composition with her friends, and as they had been sent to an almost deserted part of the Tower to clean the floors for having been too rowdy, they sang it cheerfully – not at the top of their voice, but certainly loudly enough to be heard. What did it matter? No one ever came to these rooms. All three had thought their time doing chores had passed as they were elevated to the ranks of Accepteds, but in fact, they had spent a lot of time scrubbing floors or pots of late. The intellectual work asked of them made them want to act out whenever they could.
Several inhabitants of the Tower had a few lines to themselves, and some of those lines – well, they were not malicious, but they certainly intended to be comical. It was not easy to mock women who had learnt to remain impassive, but everyone had quirks, even Aes Sedai, and Moraine had found those. No one had ever said Moraine Damodred was lacking in wits…
They did not hear the footsteps, too busy laughing and singing, but they stopped abruptly when, lifting their eyes, they saw the beige robe of Aeldra Najaf, Keeper of the Chronicles. The three of them scrambled up and sank into curtsies. How long had the Keeper been listening? What if she had heard… Moraine almost fainted in shock. Disrespecting the Aes Sedai was a major stricture. Thank the Light she had not dared mention the Amyrlin Seat in her song, but even so… they were all in terrible trouble, and she most of all. She rued the day she had even started to hum a song she remembered from court, and decided she was bored and she might as well invent new lyrics. They’d already been in disgrace, too. What would the Mistress of Novices do with them? Could she send them home? Moraine stood up, head still bowed, her eyes riveted on the tiles. The Keeper was silent, which was more unnerving than any upbraiding. At her side, she could see Siuan trying hard to look like the situation did not bother her, and Leanne fidgeting. Unable to bear the silence any longer, Moraine stepped forward in front of her friends, and looked at the Keeper straight in the eyes.
“I am responsible. Please excuse my friends. I – I wrote the song.
- I see. And did you also compel them to sing it?
- I did not, but…
- You will all three report to Merean Sedai tomorrow morning before the morning meal. Continue your task – in silence.”
On those words, the Keeper turned her back to them and walked away. They would not disobey her orders. Moraine, Siuan and Leane looked at each other in silent horror. They would have to wait nearly twelve hours to know their fate.
“At least she did not send us to the Amyrlin Seat”, murmured Leane. “I do not think we are important enough for her to deal with”, whispered Moraine. “I’m so, so sorry. You should not be punished because of me. Maybe if I go to see the Mistress now and explain –“
“And explain what?”, interrupted Siuan, murmuring furiously. “We are all guilty. And we shall not let you shoulder all the blame.”
“Do you think an Accepted can be publicly birched?”, wondered Leane aloud. The two others turned towards her. “Hold your tongue! I don’t know, but I do not want to think about that, thank you very much”, hissed Suan.
None of them slept a wink. Several times during the nights, Siuan wondered why she did not just run away, back to her village. What did she care about Aes Sedais and the Power, anyway? As for Moraine, she did not even contemplate the possibility, knowing her family would send her back in disgrace, and she would have dishonoured House Damodred in the process. Moreover, becoming an Aes Sedai had been her dream ever since her ability to channel had been discovered. Now that she was an Accepted, she was coming closer to realising that dream, and…she had been stupid enough to imperil that with a song. How could she have done that? And she had dragged the others into her mess, too. What if they were demoted to novices again? What if they were thrown out of the Tower? Could she go and see the Amirlyn Seat and beg for mercy? Explain she had been seized by a sudden fit of insanity, which had made her compose the song and share it with her friends? Tamra Ospenya had always been kind to her – stern, but fair, and kind. Only it was not exactly like she was not guilty – she was. Like all novices and Accepted, she had heard tales about what happened when one broke the rules. The sisters were strict, and even among their own, punishments were harsh.. They had been taught about the penalties for breaking the laws of the Tower, Labour, Deprivation, Mortification of the Spirit and Mortification of the Flesh being the least of them. What if they were sent away to a farm for months? It would impede their training.
In the early hours of the morning, Moraine heard someone come into her room, and there was enough dawn light for her to recognise Siuan. Wordlessly, she made room for her under the covers, and Siuan laid down beside her. If they were caught, they would probably be reprimanded, but they needed each other’s comfort more than they feared verbal admonishments. They held each over until the morning bell. Moiraine dressed in silence and collecting Leane on their way, the three of them made their way to the Mistress of Novices’ room.