Elin's Arches

[Phelix]

Elin sat in the Library, sighing to herself. She had been in the Tower for More than seven years now, and it felt like home. Today, she was studying for her own benefit. In theory, she should be studying the Old Tongue and its meanings in relation to philosophy, and she did have that book at the desk with her. But it was a simple text that defined terms and concepts she already knew. When she had first come to the Tower, her education was woefully behind that of her peers, so she forced herself to learn quickly by picking some of the most difficult texts she could find to read on her own time. This philosophy text had been one that she actually enjoyed.

 

The book she was reading instead focused on Tel’aran’rhiod, the world of dreams, the world between worlds. It was written in the Old Tongue, before Hawkwing’s Empire rose, by a true Dreamer. The woman claimed to have seen glimpses of men and women who could not themselves be Dreamers. She even claimed to have had a conversation in the world of dreams with a man who claimed to be the Dragon. The author waffled on that point, arguing that he could be any man who had dreamt his way into tel’aran’rhiod, but the idea that a long dead man might have had a conversation with an Aes Sedai in the dream world intrigued Elin. The book had been written mostly as a journal, so it helped her to become familiar with the common use of the Old Tongue. At least, that is what she would tell any sister who questioned why she was reading that instead of the assigned book.

 

A small cough brought Elin out of her deep reading, and she was shocked to see the Mistress of Novices standing there looking at her. Bolting to her feet, she curtsied. “Good day, Valeri Sedai. May I be of service?”

 

“Elin Hawes of Amadicia, you are summoned to be tested. If you pass the test, you will be Accepted of the White Tower. Do you wish to take the test?” This woman who had blotted Elin’s tears, who had caused many of those same tears, and who had comforted her when considering the reality of her dead brother, now managed to look entirely foreign and monolithic. She represented all that was the White Tower.

 

“Yes, Valeri Sedai. I wish to be tested.” The words were out of Elin’s mouth before she knew it, but once they were, she knew they were the truth. She was ready.

 

Valeri walked in front of Elin, leading her deep into the bowels of the Tower. The stone was still well cut, but it felt more massive, more solid. Behind a thick wooden door, Valeri lead Elin into a room with three silvery arches whose feet touched. At each junction of the arches, a full sister sat, wearing their fringed shawls. A gray, a red, and a green. On one side of the room stood an Aes Sedai wearing a yellow fringed shawl, next to a table which held three silver chalices.

 

Valeri guided Elin to one side of the room, in front of the first arch. “Two things that you will not have heard until this moment. First, if you begin this test you must finish it; refusing to continue will cause you to be put out of the Tower with enough silver to live on for one year, and you will not be allowed to return. Secondly, this will test your resolve, your desire. There will be danger, and it will be real. Women have entered these arches and never returned. Once you have entered, you must persevere. Be steadfast, do not falter. Faltering leads to failure. Failure here means death.”

 

Silence filled the room, and Elin thought about that. She had a choice. She could go back and be a novice for another year. But what would she learn in a year? She knew all the weaves novices were allowed to learn; she knew the Old Tongue well enough that she tutored younger girls; she understood Daes Dae’mar and politics in both the wide scale and the small; and she knew that she was ready. Staying a novice would only hold her back, and it would be a sign of cowardice.

 

The Mistress of Novices spoke again, “This is your final chance. If you wish to turn back, it will only be your first refusal. Many girls cannot face the test on their first attempt. Do you wish to continue?”

 

“Yes, Valeri Sedai, I wish to continue.”

 

The yellow sister beside the table intoned, “Whom do you bring with you, Sister?”

 

“One who comes as a candidate for Acceptance, Sister.” Valeri gave the traditional reply.

 

“Is she ready?”

 

“She is ready to leave behind what she was, and, passing through her fears, gain Acceptance.”

 

“Does she know her fears?”

 

“She has never faced them, but now is willing.”

 

“Then let her face what she fears.”

 

Valeri nodded to the yellow and turned Elin back to the arch. “Elin, please take off your clothing. You must enter the ter’angreal clad only in the Light.” She smiled at the term, and waited while Elin disrobed. Once the novice was ready, Valeri spoke again. “The first time is for what was. The way back will come but once. Be steadfast.”

 

As Elin stepped into the arch, it glowed brightly, filling her senses with light.

 

She was home in her village, wearing the same dark dress and bonnet she always wore, even wearing her baking apron over it. Looking around, she saw all her neighbors gathered around her home. Stepping closer, she saw the old miller from across town with a thick piece of charcoal in his hand scrawling the sinuous Dragon’s Fang on their door.

 

“The Hawes boy can channel! We all know that twins are to be watched carefully, and I saw that boy speak to the fire in his oven, and it grew hotter! I saw him put a curse on the Goodwill’s milk cow so that they would have to buy milk from the Hawes as well as their bread! He is a channeler and a darkfriend to boot!”

 

The crowd was silent at first, but then one of the miller’s neighbors yelled out encouragement, and another asked what the Children of the Light would think if their town harbored a channeler. That was enough, and Elin watched as her neighbors drug her brother from their home, and tied him to a large stake. They made him carry it to the edge of town, all the while throwing rocks and stale bread at him.

 

Their father tried to grab her and take her inside their house, but she pulled away. She knew that her brother was innocent. In her heart of hearts, she knew it was not true... and just as she knew that, she also knew that the miller truly was a darkfriend. She had no evidence, had not seen him do anything, but she knew it.

 

Running after the crowd, she yelled for them to stop. Remarkably, they did. The entire crowd turned to look at her, and her brother sighed in relief.

 

“It is not true! Nile cannot channel, and he isn’t a darkfriend either! I can-” Elin cut off as to her left, a silver arch appeared, and a voice spoke into her mind ‘the way back will come but once, be steadfast.’

 

The crowd waited, their eyes on Elin. As she stared at the arch, she heard the miller again.

 

“He must be bewitching his sister! Hurry, kill him now!” Men she had lived with all her life hurled rocks at Nile’s head, and Elin saw the look of betrayal burning in his eyes. Weeping bitter tears, she made herself turn her back on Nile. Walking through that arch was more important than anything else had ever been. She knew that was the truth, even if she didn’t know why.

 

“Elin! Do something! Save me!” His voice broke each time a rock connected, but she couldn’t turn back. Passing through the arch, white light blinded her.

 

Standing in front of her was the yellow sister, holding a silver chalice. She turned it over, pouring cold water over Elin’s head. “You are washed clean of what sin you may have done and of those done against you. You are washed clean of what crime you may have committed, and of those committed against you. You come to us washed clean and pure, in heart and soul.”

 

The water washed away Elin’s tears, but she knew her brother’s cries would be burned into her memory for as long as she lived. Valeri let her kneel and weep for a moment before guiding her to the second arch.

 

“The second arch is for what is. The way will come but once. Be steadfast.”

 

Again, she stepped into the blinding light and was filled with it.

 

She was standing in her village, wearing a traveling dress with discreet bands of color at each hem. Elin knew Accepted of the White Tower always wore banded dresses, even if they were being allowed to go home for a family emergency. Her mother had written the Tower and begged for Elin to be allowed to come home. The Mistress of Novices had reluctantly agreed, and sent Elin home with enough silver for the trip out and back.

 

Now, she found herself standing in the road watching the carriage she had arrived in drive off to its next stop, and she felt like she didn’t know the village anymore. Everything was the same, but different. She walked to her home, and it was silent. The door was covered in black smudges from faded Dragon’s fangs, and there were no lanterns lit. Stepping inside, she found her mother cowering, holding Elin’s youngest brother, Ren.

 

“Elin! You came home! You can convince them! You went to the Tower! You know what a channeler looks like! Tell them Ren isn’t one!” She sobbed, her tears streaking the dirt and ash on her face. Ren’s eyes were wide with fear.

 

“What happened mother? Where is everyone else? Where is father?”

 

“After you left, the miller came back. He said he’d seen your sisters bewitching the Mayor’s sons, and the town burnt them too. All it took was the miller’s accusation and the fact that their brother had been executed as a channeler to prove it to the town. Your father tried to save his girls, but the miller and the mayor ordered him captured. They gave him over to the Whitecloaks. The last I heard was when a Child of the Light came into town to announce that ‘Wendrick Hawes had admitted that he had given his soul to the Shadow and had been executed in Amador.’”

 

Elin’s heart broke a bit more with each piece of news until she was on her knees holding her mother and brother as they all sobbed.

 

“Every year another of my children was taken, called a channeler, and burnt. I even closed the Light forsaken bakery and sold the millstone to the miller so we weren’t a threat anymore... but he kept coming. Now, all I’ve got is Ren. My poor baby.”

 

A thud sounded on the door. “Goodwife Hawes, we know you are in there. We know that your two children Elin and Ren Hawes are both cursed of the Light; both can channel! Send them out to be purified so that our town might be blessed of the Light again!”

 

Elin recognized the old Miller’s voice, and it filled her with rage. Stepping away from her mother, she readied weaves knowing that she could defend herself. With a flick of air and fire, she sent the door exploding out, knocking many townspeople to their backs.

 

“Under what authority do you claim the right to judge and execute me, miller?” Holding a fireball in her hand, she stepped out into the crowd of her former neighbors. “By whose right do you claim that all channeling is a sin against the Light?”

 

“You see? She does channel! Of course her brother must also have the curse!” The old miller stood ten paces away, his face wreathed in a cruel glory. He was enjoying the pain he caused the Hawes family, knowing that he had destroyed them in every way possible. Stepping closer, Elin brought the fireball within inches of his face.

 

Before she could speak, she heard her mother’s screams. While her back was turned, the rest of the village had set fire to their home with both her mother and Ren inside. Elin knew she could put out the fire. She could call a raincloud, or a wind, or even just weave enough air to create a tunnel for them to escape the inferno, but as she began to weave, off to her right, she saw a silver arch. ‘The way back will come but once. Be steadfast.’

 

Walking through that arch was more important than any other thing in her life, and knowing that made Elin weep. The sound of her mother’s cries stopped, but the scent of burning hair and flesh followed Elin as she walked to the arch. The miller’s laughter filled the air too, and Elin knew she could have killed him. She also knew that he wasn’t as important as walking through that forsaken arch.

 

Passing through it, Elin was filled to burning with bright, white light.

 

Again, she found herself naked, on her knees, weeping. “Why? Why can’t I save them?”

 

The yellow poured more water over her head. “You are washed clean of false pride. You are washed clean of false ambition. You come to us washed clean, in heart and soul.”

 

“Child, do you wish to continue?” Valeri’s voice was kind, but Elin heard the disappointment that would come if she failed.

 

“Yes, Valeri Sedai, I wish to continue.”

 

“Good, then come. The third arch is for what is yet to come. The way back will come but once, be steadfast.”

 

For a third time, Elin stepped into the ter’angreal, and her senses were blotted out with white light.

 

She found herself riding a deep chested war horse. His name was Rhiod, and Elin had received him as a gift from the King of Cairhien after she captured a rogue male channeler outside the city. On the surface, the gift was for protecting the people of his nation, but its deeper meaning was a thanks for not revealing that the channeler in question was the King’s nephew. Rhiod was Tairen stock, and haughty as only a horse can be, but Elin loved him anyway.

 

She was alone in the woods of Altara, near the border with Amadicia, so her red fringed shawl was becoming less and less protection, and more and more a target. So she stopped to fold it and put it away.

 

“Well, look who it is. Our own dear sister Elin.” The voice was cruel, but Elin still knew it. Her brother Nile. Moving calmly, as if she had not been surprised, Elin turned to look where the voice had come from. Standing there was a figure out of madness. The man’s face was black and green with taint-rot, his mouth dribbled spittle, and his left arm hung to the side as if it were useless.

 

“Yes, it does seem to be her, doesn’t it?” Another cruel, but familiar voice turned out to be Ren. His body was less affected, but still showed signs of the taint. More laughter revealed two more of her brothers, both somewhere between Nile and Ren in their rotting state.

 

“The miller was right, dear sister. I could channel. So could our brothers. It seems mother and father could breed true.” His coarse laughter set off the other three brothers, and their rotten bodies shook at they laughed. “I’m glad the Tower sent you, Elin dear. It’s no fun to keep killing the women they send to capture us. You are going to live with us now, and Heal us, like a good sister should.”

 

“No, Nile, I cannot.” Elin heeled Rhiod hard in the ribs, and sent her warhorse galloping straight at Nile. Her brother cut the horses legs out from under it with a weave of saidin.

 

“Yes, Elin, you can.” He stood over her, eyes burning with his madness, and she felt a shield start to cut off her access to the Power.

 

“No!” She screamed, drawing as deeply as she could. Weaving spirit and fire, she slashed his Shield into pieces. His scream was echoed by their brothers, who all rushed in to attack as well. Fireballs flew between them, the earth shook and tore itself up under their feet, and Elin quickly realized that the madness had her brothers. All four were cackling as they threw destruction and chaos at each other.

 

Sneaking out from the middle of their battle, Elin stood, and saw what action to take. Weaving four clubs of air, she knocked Ren and the twins out cold, and stunned Nile. Before they could recover, she wove four shields and tied them off strongly. Weaves of air tightly bound them together, and she set them down neatly while she wove Healing on Rhiod.

 

Once she was mounted, she lifted her brothers and began riding back toward the road that would lead to Caemlyn. It would be a long road, but she would find sisters there who could help her bring her brothers into the Tower to be gentled. As soon as Rhiod stepped onto the road, she heard another voice yelling.

 

Turning, she saw a squadron of Children of the Light hurtling down the road. There was no way she could pretend to be anything but an Aes Sedai, so she and Rhiod galloped away in front of the Children, her brothers floating along behind. When an arrow whipped past her ear, she realized the Children must have some bowmen trained to shoot from horseback, so he hastily put together a shield of air covering her brothers and herself. All of this weaving was exhausting, and she felt the flows holding her brothers begin to weaken, and suddenly snap, dropping them to the ground in front of the Children.

 

As she whirled Rhiod around, she saw a silver arch off the road about twenty paces. She was torn. Going through that arch was more important than breathing, but leaving her brothers to be trampled by the Children was unthinkable.

 

Screaming, she kicked Rhiod’s sides, sending the horse into another gallop, and just in front of the arch, he tripped, sending her flying through the arch.

 

The light seared her soul, burning that pain into her memory, and she landed on her knees on the cold stones deep within the Tower’s foundation.

 

Standing off to one side is the Amyrlin and seven Aes Sedai, all wearing their shawls, all looking as severe as an executioner. Elin lifted herself to her feet, ignoring her aches and tears, and walked to kneel in front of the Amyrlin.

 

The cold water sluiced over Elin’s head, washing the sweat and tears away. “You are washed clean of Elin Hawes of Amadicia. You are washed clean of all ties that bind you to the world. You come to us washed clean in heart and soul. You are Elin Hawes, Accepted of the White Tower.”

 

Each of the Aes Sedai wore a serene smile, and Elin knew they approved of her.

 

“You are sealed to us, now. Welcome, daughter,” said the Amyrlin. She then handed the chalice to the Gray sister and produces a Great Serpent ring. She slipped it onto Elin’s left hand’s third finger and pulled her to her feet. “Welcome, Daughter”, she said kissing the new Accepted’s cheek, and then the other cheek. “Welcome.”