#Moiraine 'whole tower' Damodred

[shutupineedtothink]

I’m still s h o o k that people do not see exactly what’s going on with Moiraine throughout s2 and people are dragging her and dismissing her without an ounce of empathy for what she’s been through, so I’m bringing the full character analysis for y’all (and my own sanity). So this is a big ol in defense of Moiraine (and Lan) rant, so if that’s not your thing, scroll down now. Here we go.

I just… The AUDACITY some people have to look at Moiraine and be angry and pissed off at how she acts in S2. To not feel any sympathy and empathy for her and the monumental weight she’s under every goddamn day. There’s a reason we start with that bath scene in 2x01 – it shows you everything. How she’s just going through the motions. How she only lets herself cry when she’s alone in the water. How she literally curls into the fetal position and looks reproachfully devastated over her knees as she hugs them to her chest in a futile attempt at comfort. Not to mention the direct comparison/callback with the bath scene in 1x01, where she has both her power and Lan still, and now she’s lost her connection to both of them.

How is it not painfully obvious that every interaction she has after that bath scene is infused with a trauma response? Let’s tally up the devastation she’s been through. At the end of S1, she was 1. banished from the sisterhood of the white tower (they literally turned their backs on her), 2. was separated AGAIN from the love of her life fully expecting to never see her again, 3. was cut off from the other love of her life (that would be Lan, for the record) which is all the worse bc it’s her own fault for masking the bond, 4. was fully made to believe she’s been stilled from the one power aka an integral part of her being, AND 5. she’s “failed” her mission at the eye of the world – the one goal she’s had for the last 20 years, her life’s purpose – because instead of locking away the dark one she’s directly caused Rand to set Ishamael free.

You don’t think it's justified to be a little pissed off and standoffish after all of that? You don’t think the weight of that guilt, grief, pain, and loss is a reasonable cause to be distant, cold, harsh, having a little bit of a death wish? That’s TRAUMA, baby! She is absolutely wrecked, and it’s coming out in the worst way in her interactions with others (especially Lan because we’ve seen how they should be), but it’s absolutely not because she actively wants to hurt the people around her. In fact after almost every moment she lashes out at someone, we see an equally sad/grief-stricken/devastated moment from her and THAT’S the real emotion hiding underneath the anger. This woman needs therapy and understanding and patience, and does not deserve to be judged at the worst time of her life.

Ok fine, you say, but Lan IS patient and understanding with her! And she’s still an asshole to him! You’re right, Lan is absolutely trying his best and doing just about everything he can to be there for her in 2x01/2x02 (with a little help from Verin and Tomas). But 1. It’s STILL not about him, Moiraine is not obligated to respond in a certain way to her grief and pain that makes him feel better, and 2. This is Moiraine goddamn Damodred and even her trauma response is also a front to protect him, to push him away from her and what is now certainly a suicide mission to fight the dark without her powers.

This is SOOO important to really get Moiraine’s character — y’all gotta understand this: Moiraine truly loves only TWO people on the whole fucking planet: Siuan and Lan. They are also the only people who truly love her, unconditionally, with all of her flaws and imperfections. Please please ingrain that into your brain, especially for Lan, in this context. (Siuan is a whole other conversation I won’t get into at the moment.) Moiraine loves Lan, he loves her, deeply. That’s the foundation of everything they go through with each other in this season, despite what’s happening on the surface.

Once you accept that as fundamental truth, everything makes a whole lot more sense. She is a dick to him to push him away. Literally tells him he failed her to put the final nail in the coffin of driving him away, which is his worst nightmare. On the surface it seems egotistic at best, plain cruel at worst. But look underneath. Moiraine always has reasons 2, 3, 6 layers deep for everything she does.

With everyone else she’s mean to this season, namely her sister and her nephew, it’s born out of distrust (and the aforementioned trauma response). She can’t afford to trust anyone because anyone could be a dark friend. (And if they’re not a dark friend, then they become a liability and endangered.) Anything she lets slip could be used to hurt/control Rand and push them all one step closer to eternal darkness. Oh and when we see Barthanes’ true nature that turns out to be fucking justified, by the way. But I digress.

Right so why is she an asshole to Lan then? Because she doesn’t trust him? I don’t believe that for a second. These two have been on the same page, literally sharing the same headspace, for the last 20 years – she knows he’s the best person she’s ever met, the least likely to ever turn to the dark, ever. It’s an actual impossibility. So it’s not that she doesn’t trust him. She literally marvels at how courageous he must be to fight the dark with only a sword.

The true reason is: she does trust him, she does love him, and she KNOWS him. She knows that he will never leave her like this, in her darkest hour. He is both honor-bound to her (which he takes very seriously) and deeply cares for her. The problem is that now his life is in serious danger by staying with her. But there is no calmly explaining to him that he should return to the white tower for his own good and bond to another aes sedai who can actually channel, who can actually hold up her end of the partnership and protect him and heal him in return for his loyalty and sacrifice. Or better yet, find Nynaeve, who is not only ridiculously powerful and has probably the best chance of protecting him out of anyone, but who also loves him.

If Moiraine loves him and wants him safe, the ONLY option she has to protect him, the one good thing left in her life even if their bond is masked, is to drive him away. To make it so that he’ll stay far away from her of his own free will, and never come after her and her suicide mission to defeat the dark. Because she has already lost everything, she has no control over her fate anymore (if she ever had any to begin with), but the ONE thing she can still try to do is keep him safe. And hopefully, maybe he’ll be happy, one day. Her reasoning is directly confirmed for us in the last thing she says to him in 2x02 before she leaves: “Light protect you, al’Lan Mandragoran.” That was her goal all along, to protect him.

That’s the true reason she’s Like That to him. It’s all out of her love for him, and a desperate desire not to drag him down with her when she’s sure she’s destined to die on this mission. Is her strategy misguided? On the one hand yes, because she does need people to help her and she needs to trust someone, as he points out. On the other hand, she’s absolutely fucking right because look what happened with the Fade fight at the end of 2x01. Both her and Lan would have died without Verin and Tomas, and it would have been because she couldn’t channel. He is factually, logically, physically better off without her as long as she’s “stilled.”

This is why it makes sense how Lan eventually responds the way he does. He initially sees right through what she’s trying to do, he literally says he won’t let her push him away. He knows her too, better than anyone, including Siuan at this point. But he isn’t expecting her to go as far as she does, and it shakes him to his core. She tells him he failed her, has his worst fears confirmed, and then hears the words “we were never equals” and hears that she thinks she’s better than him, when she means the exact opposite. Tomas tells him to really listen but he can’t, in that moment.

But then he gets some distance, and some perspective thanks to Ihvon and Maksim, and he remembers: he loves her. He believes in her and he knows her and he knows what she’s doing to push him away (although maybe not why, when it comes to protecting him, because he doesn’t see himself as someone who needs protecting). Even better, he realizes that her situation is actually not what she thinks, that she’s shielded not stilled, and he can do something about that.

I LOVE Lan in 2x07 because he’s got Moiraine’s number now, and he will not be swayed by any further attempts (rather weak attempts at this point) to lash out at him. He just takes all the shit she throws at him, and calmly asks her what he needs to know and tells her what she needs to hear (“hopefully everything we’ve lost” and “that’s what I thought” and “you need to trust someone, Moiraine”), and is truthful with her even if she is still putting on this act with him in her fear and grief. He isn’t having any of it, he sees straight through it to the fear and pain underneath. And he literally DECIDES they are going to be okay, and then he fucking. Follows. Through.

He is not a doormat to her rage, he is not her servant, he’s not going back to her with his tail between his legs. He SHOWS UP for her in her darkest hour, when NO ONE, not even Siuan, can see what’s going on with her. That’s a true friend, a true hero, and absolute king behavior.

In conclusion, Moiraine’s behavior in s2, while not cute, is totally justified given the trauma, circumstances and everything she’s dealing with (jfc the lack of sleep alone) and makes sense in light of her ultimate goal to protect the world, which includes protecting Lan. And Lan’s response, once he figures out what to do, is the absolute correct way to handle the situation and is not weakness at all but strength in the highest order.

I’m so glad we got the payoff of all that with their conversation in 2x08 and reconnecting the bond. It was so beautiful, so earned, and reminded us of the level they’re on with each other — which is a soul connection way beyond what any of us can imagine.

[lakeofsilverpike]

Something about the flashback that stays with me is the idea that Moiraine had this period in her life when she was blissfully happy and giddy and not troubled.

I don’t think we ever see that in the books, nor do I think book Moiraine ever has that. New Spring Moiraine is deeply worried about becoming like the rest of her family. She’s worried about her nature. She generally has this angsty anxious vibe even young.

And I fully believe that person existed in the show too. That the woman who left Cairhien was reserved and secretive and worried about her Damodred temper.

Even though we keep calling this the New Spring flashback, in reality it is 40 years later. Moiraine is not 22 here. She’s 60. She’s lived forty years being loved and being so in love. And she’s absolutely giddy with it.

You can see that Siuan is worried that Moiraine wouldn’t want to leave the white tower, but Moiraine just rolls with it. Siuan wants to live in a bamboo hut and moiraine is excited about it as long as they are together.

Moiraine may want to help and do good, but work isn’t her whole life. She will adjust for what her wife wants and find happiness in a simple life together. I never imagined Moiraine as domestic, but she seems open to it, seems actually delighted by the idea.

She’s delighted in general. Giggling and teasing and grinning and kissing.

Show Moiraine is in so many ways book Moiraine plus a healthy long term relationship and all the ways that changes her. Show Moiraine giggles and smiles and runs through the Tower holding Siuan’s hand. Show Moiraine is sad because the wheel ripped that away from her, but she is someone capable of deep love and unrestrained joy. I continue to be very happy with that specific change

[lotties-ashwagandha]

MOIRAINE DAMODRED IS AUTISTIC and nothing can change my mind. (headcanons)

welcome back to another episode of me headcanoning every character i can get my hands on as autistic. today we’re focusing on moiraine damodred bc why not i have so much to say 🤭

first reason she’s autistic: have u seen those social skills? neither have i. they don’t exist. she doesn’t have any. her facial expression never changes and neither does her vocal tone. she pisses everyone off because she has no communication skills and then she seems so confused when everyone’s pissed at her. she has no filter or sense of what is okay or not okay to say in a given social setting (she can’t “read the room”).

second reason she’s autistic: hyperfixated on finding the dragon reborn. she has no reason to be so invested in that, aes sedai have been trying to find the dragon reborn for centuries. her whole life and all of her interests are centered around channeling and finding the dragon reborn, and when she’s unable to do either of those things she has a complete meltdown and won’t talk to anyone or eat or sleep. channeling and the dragon reborn are her special interests.

third reason moiraine is autistic: how many fucking times do we have to see her bathing bruh like it’s probably for sex appeal or some fucking shit but bro it gives such germ averse sensory issue get society off my skin ive been in public for a whole 5 minutes sort of autistic vibe and you know im not wrong.

also i think it’s worth noting that she didn’t want to stay in the white tower even tho siuan was there. it would’ve compromised her ability to keep going w her hyperfixations AND it would’ve meant more frequent and prolonged social interaction, and more sensory input like noises and different textures n shit

i’ll add onto this later but that’s all i can think of at the moment <3

hi im back i have to add this comment and a few asks i got bc they’re so right

[lavendelhummel]

So Selkies, right? In the Wheel of Time?! Okay let’s be honest this is about Moiraine. Because what do Selkies really stand for, why are they so fascinating? It can be about Epic Love and about Captivity. Moiraine and the Wheel itself, her freedom, her choices, her boundaries.

Captivity in the broader way of being trapped is one of the big questions in society and our (modern?) living as individuals, I think. Being trapped in structures and jobs and situations and relationships etc. and not knowing how to break out, feeling trapped. I don't want to project my experiences onto everyone else but I am also sure my experience is not unique, as in choosing jobs that make you unhappy but yet you feel like you have to continue doing this for whatever reason and then what would be the alternative? It would be scary, even if what you are doing now is bad too. About not looking forward to started paths but not knowing how to break out. About spending all our time and energy for things or people we dont want to, but have to. Knowing there is, there was? Passion for things at times but where? Because we are trapped by the structures around us and we let ourselves live in this captivity because we’re are too scared to break out of it. And this is just one example, there are so many more ways and situations who make people feel trapped. Because in a certain way this can mean safety. It can mean, no worries because no responsibility or because we dont have to change and go scary new ways. Or because the things we may not be passionate about, make us feel trapped but also are the responsible thing to do. And while we are at it, while we spend all our time and energy on it, why not try to love it?

We think so much about individualism and freedom but where a discussion on freedom is held there is also one about captivity. And Freedom? In the Wheel of Time? Freedom in Moiraine Damodred’s mind? Extremely interesting. This is one of the big themes around her character and in extension Rand and the whole series of course. Moraine is free while being captured in a way. The wheel weaves as the wheel wills. Where does the Wheel, the pattern commence and free will end? She is her mission. Did she choose this? She did? But so did the wheel. 

Then there is the whole “being put on the sun throne“ thing of course. (Plus being the very literal prisoner of [redacted, something something helsinki] but that's different). It’s already in (book-)canon a big thing for her. Then you have Siuan, who is stuck in the tower and Aes Sedai politics. Also the balance between the two of them that is always a theme, the Damodred and the fisher daughter, the two girls who as equals as novices a relationship, the equals who make a plan to save the world together, the pain that leads to the magic pope/the Amyrlin seat and a sister. The natural leader, the fishergirl who is followed by the noble, who then proceeds to lead the actual dragon reborn. The / one of the most influential Aes Sedai and the stilled, and degraded (theoretically dead, but nope) sister. Who leads, Siuan? But only because Moiraine wants her to, lets her? Only because they fit together as one. Who captures? Who is captured/ are they really ‘captured’? What even means that to them? That’s also in those selkie stories. 

I thought about Siuan as Selkie in Cairhien, her being captured as an attraction by Laman; Moiraine finding her having pity for the captured creatures, being in a moral conflict about freeing her, going down to the prison/ compound most evenings and getting to know, falling in love with Siuan, but can she, will she free her?

It’s also about transformation and a whole different life and world, about possible impossibtlies and temptation, I think, but thats more general for these kind of stories of course.

Then there is the image of Moiraine standing on the rocks, her long brown hair caught in the storm and flying everywhere, it’s obviously raining heavily and the waves are high and she just stands there staring at the ocean to mentally escape all the Daes’damar and when she sees a seal. When she sees Siuan, the Selkie she is bound to fall in love with. Or free to fall in love with?

So, please, someone hand me the motivation to write this story, please just force my hand and free these thoughts from the barres of my mind.

[rosamundpkes]

2023: A YEAR IN REVIEW

thank you for tagging me @padme-amidala, @moirainesedai, and @crowley-anthony <3 <3 <3 this was so much fun to look back through a whole year's worth of gifs!! i made a real effort this year to improve my blending skills and get more creative with it so it was cool to see the progression of what i've done!!

JANUARY Most Popular: set it up (2018) Favorite: i honestly didn't make anything i really love in january whoops

FEBRUARY Most Popular: yelena x kate + ao3 tags (vdc) Favorite: ryan x sophie (vdc) / rhaenyra x alicent (vdc)

MARCH Most Popular: the hunger games (2012) Favorite: rhaenyra targaryen + you first

APRIL Most Popular: buffy & dawn summers Favorite: kate x anthony

MAY Most Popular: han x leia (sw appreciation) Favorite: ahsoka tano (sw appreciation)

JUNE Most Popular: rhaenicent (wlwsource pride event) Favorite: imagine me & you (pmcw) / rhaenicent (pmcw)

JULY Most Popular: lord of the rings: the fellowship of the ring (2001) Favorite: thasmin

AUGUST Most Popular: lord of the rings: the two towers (2002) Favorite: rhaenicent (hotd appreciation week)

SEPTEMBER Most Popular: bottoms (2023) Favorite: the x files dvd covers / rhaenicent and boy(genius)

OCTOBER Most Popular: moiraine channeling Favorite: siuaraine

NOVEMBER Most Popular: jane bennet in pride & prejudice (2005) Favorite: moiraine damodred + hands

DECEMBER Most Popular: the sound of music (1965) Favorite: the wheel of time colour set

tagging whoever would like to do this!! i'm too sleepy to come up with anyone atm :)

[riddleredcoats]

Wheelie Time thoughts

Spoilers for S2 episodes 1-3, including the preview for next episode, and spoilers for all the books.

Queen of Cairhien you said. So at first, I thought that Moiraine's sister was going to be the Queen, but when she spoke to Rand my head turned again because she seemed disgusted with the Queen and how she is just out to get her city back and thought that it must be another person. That said, her being all depressed about what i means to be a queen is coherent with Damodred Drama, so... yeah I think she's probably the queen and was talking to Rand in the third person. Especially funny because Lanfear was clearly about to say something about her, but never got to it.

Speaking of Lanfear... Beloved, i love her so much. She's so messy. My best worstie, love how much fun she was having. And she has a power-dynamic kink...... yeah, that doesn't surprise me, lmao.

Rand is baby in this whole thing and so kind to the Aiel War veteran. I love that scene of them walking, especially because I think that the Sword Forms he described are going to be the way that Rand defeats Turuk.

Lan and Moiraine broke my heart, especially that last scene in episode 2 where the Myrelle/Alanna merger was basically confirmed. Can't wait from them to take it all back and be besties again.

In the last of Nyn's accepted test - which was fucking brutal, this woman now has years of memories with a child that isn't real anymore, fuck - Mat loses an eye at the end. I love this show and this foreshadowing so much.

Verin is perfect exactly as she is. She said that she and Adealas are sisters, but like Sisters of the White Tower or Sisters-Sisters? Who knows. Interesting implications if its the later.

Alanna and her warders are killing me. That Maksim "I am a third wheel" is making me feel things, knowing that he is probably the one who is going to die.

Perrin is already Going Through It and Ishamael going "The more wolf you become, the more you are mine" is a great way to kickstart his "I don't want to be a wolf brother arc." --- Please let it end fast tho.

Elayne is perfect and I have no notes.

Egg is also perfect.

Interesting Liandrin backstory. Part of me wonders if it isn't all made up to get Nyn's sympathy, but maybe I am just building plots out of nothing. That said, great way to show that the way Aes Sedai live longer.

Next week we have the Lanfear episode with a focus on Moiraine. Do I need to tell you how that combo is making me go insane?

[mashithamel]

Episode 4 spoilery reactions (full book and show spoilers)

- I like how Fares Fares looks straight into the camera. Honestly I think it makes him a little scarier that he’s looking right at me, even if it breaks the fourth wall just a little.

- The Dark Prophesy!

- His weaves are so smooth compared to Aes Sedai—nice touch to show how they are different in their abilities, and how they would be distainful of the current channelers

- Properly creepy Lanfear intro

- This intro to the Cairhein nobility—the surface changes to hide aging and the dusty oppulence of the house.

- Yeah, that window’s patterns has to be important for them to focus on it? Someone outlined a fox head in it—I like that theory.

- Moiraine is just being a jerk to everyone, huh?

- Accepted rooms are better than expected.

- Oh, poor Nynaeve. She doesn’t even know how to respond to her friend’s compassion. “It wasn’t real. None if it was real.” It’s true, but not what she wants to hear.

- Lan’s hair is better here than in the arches. Color looks good on him too.

- Such a delightful family scene. I like how Ivohn and Maksim are just part of it.

- I like that Alanna is funny. “A Warder is supposed to laugh at his bond holder’s quips.”

- “[Breakfast] was at least two hours ago.” That is basically my sentiment in the morning, when I want to eat something like every two hours until lunch. Alanna is my people (which is a very uncomfortable statement)

- Alanna & co think Moiraine released him from his bond, right? That’s why she came to pick him up and why they are watching him so closely. He isn’t correcting them. He will still protect Moiraine’s secrets.

- “Nynaeve is going through the arches.” Oh, the painful difference between “I came as fast as I could” and “I’m not looking to repeat my failures.” This is as close to a Lanaeve moment as we get this episode, so I will milk it for all it’s worth. In the books he refuses Nynaeve because he has a death sentence (both externally and internally imposed). It’s an interesting change that here he’s refusing because he’s failed as a Warder and doesn’t want to fail Nynaeve as well (I guess it’s kind of the same thing, but it feels different). Plus the whole unresolved issues with Moiraine. But it does add a unique flavor to the refusal that I like.

- “A year or two before she bonded you.” We’ve established Moiraine’s timeline is different from the books, but interesting.

- I assumed those were cigars. But probably Two Rivers tabacc, however you want to interpret it.

- That little smile in the mirror. Just a tiny little look into who Moiraine Damodred was before the Tower, pretty and steeped in Daes de Mar.

- I like that Moiraine arranged for Logain to come to Cairhein.

- “I should kill you where you stand.” “You tried that once.” Hah!

- “Have you started training him yet?” Plots within plots. Always three steps ahead.

- “I know what you really want.” Oh, double meanings, and the way she looks at that dagger. She is so stubborn, so committed to her mission she won’t even give into suicide because of it. She is so strong. (But everything has a breaking point)

- I’ve seen Logain vs Asmodean as being Moiraine vs Lanfear, and I love it.

- “Why do you feel like you have to fix it?” “Cause I’m her friend.” Such a good question and such an honest, but inadequate, answer. Egwene can’t fix it, of course. But that desire to help, even though nothing can, is very relatable. And very in line with Egwene’s character.

- “I just feel smaller and smaller.” Oh, baby girl.

- I love that Nynaeve’s keyhole in her dress is much smaller here (shame it’s bigger in a later scene), it’s very in line with her preferring to be more covered up (at this point, at least!!)

- They teased us Mat with a quarterstaff in the BTS footage and I’m not going to stop being mad it was a fake out. This show will teach me patience or it will break me. Trusting you, Rafe. Don’t let me down!

- I love that Nynaeve’s seeking out her friends here, and that she actually has friends besides Egwene here, that are hers alone. A nice change. Too bad they aren’t actually here. They’re trying to take care of your man! But they would have been so good for her too, whatever Lan thinks of Maksim’s wisdom.

- This guy is very hot. And so smooth taking his shot. Look, I stan Lanaeve as much as the next fanatical shipper, but a girl can look, right?

- God, I love her glare here.

- “You know if she falls, you’ll fall with her.”

- “Are they all wolfbrothers? Am I going to change into…” “Don’t be stupid.” At least we stand a prayer of a chance of giving poor Perrin some answers instead of everyone just telling him ‘this is too dangerous’ or ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ and they might actually tell him what to do instead!!! (I may have some lingering resentment from Perrin POVs)

- I like that the wolves understand Perrin’s loss, he doesn’t have to explain himself to them, they just get him.

- HOPPER!!!!

- Lan knows what the poem means. I’ve seen speculation he let Maksim see him put it away too, and I like it. The writers know this character too well to just have him be a big dumb solider. He’s a king, well read and well taught, and spent twenty years with Moiraine. He doesn’t know everything, but he’s far from stupid.

- Nice parallel with the well and water buckets

- I have chosen to believe these writers don’t waste screentime and words where they aren’t important. Some people thought Stepin’s whole storyline was pointless, but I loved it and thought it was important for us to understand the stakes of the bond. I don’t know how this is going to play out, but I’m choosing to trust they are spending all this time with Lan/Alanna&co for a reason and I’m going to enjoy it. We’ll see in <4 weeks if it was worth it…

- “Have you ever known a marriage that is exactly the same as another?” Come on, this has to be worth it just for all the varied relationships this show is going to give us. In addition to showing Lan an effective Warder who doesn’t need the bond (exclusively, at least).

- “I’m proof you can [go back to Moiraine]. If you want to.” Go, Lan! He leaves tonight, right??

- Ha, Maksim leaves him with all the water buckets

- Selene is effective. Much better than in the books. But still gag inducing. Honey, you need to get over him. You are a smart, capable woman. You don’t need to waste your life pining after the one guy who got away. Plus, you are evil now, so… Leave Rand alone!

- Dice rattling!!

- My poor Nynaeve. “I’m supposed to just forget her and everything that happened in there.” Might be nice if Lan, instead of Liandrin, was the one here to comfort her.

- “We Aes Sedai are cursed too…we have to sit and watch the people we love pass by instead.” I get the feeling when they do see each other, Nynaeve is going to be a lot more reluctant to pick up where she and Lan left things off. Or maybe it’ll be more along the lines of strike while the iron is hot?

- “I can see why they don’t let you teach Novices.” Hah! But don’t bond with Liandrin! She’s secretly evil!

- Lan says the word “wisdom” and gets a far off stare. I take it back, we get two Lanaeve moments in this episode. I’m taking them where I can get them. I’ve written fanfics based on less.

- They all want dessert after. Where do I sign up to be Alanna’s Warder?

- This nice juxtaposition, of Alanna with her Warders and family, and Nynaeve and Egwene, having support and other people, vs Moiraine who has pushed everyone away, making her job all that much harder, losing her eyes and ears in Cairhein to other loyalties. Very nice.

- Lady Anavare! You got the upper hand on an Aes Sedai and I love it.

- “Give us a moment.” “This is my room!” Nynaeve glare. Gotta love it. They are going to be so at odds with one another next episode, and it’s going to be delightful. Princess vs Wisdom and they have to learn to get along and eventually like each other. I’m so looking forward to it.

- As has been pointed out, the first of many concussions for Elayne

- I kind of like the temptation of Min. Make it more of a thing when it’s no longer a curse but something she can use to help those she cares about.

- Was the cabin there before? Like, she just made it, right?

- As a person with a frog phobia, I approve the swap of the grolm for a Fade. Thanks, Rafe!

- Yeah, I’m on team “Selene should have dropped the act as soon as she got him to channel.”

- Rand, baby, it’s a crush. It’s not real. Also, she’s evil.

- Gonna admit, I did not see Natasha as Lanfear (she looked so much like the Elaida in my head!). But I am sold on her.

- “Sure he’s asleep?” Nope. I would have liked them to include a shot of Lan riding away, but I don’t buy it. If he’s still there next episode I will be really disappointed.

- Dark prophesy translation!! I really do not care that it’s Alanna and not Verin that read this. Alanna makes sense for where we are in the show. Verin’s got other important prophesies to give us.

- That’s gotta be him recognizing a woman channeling, right?

- And Moiraine with the stone cold stabbing of people. At least in the end she got her man, and just in time.

- Aviendha next week!

[agardenandlibrary]

The Shadow Rising: chapters 20-22

We begin with Thom + Juilin (thief catcher from book 2, got brainwashed by the Black Ajah and betrayed the girlsquad, later showed up to help rescue them with Mat) showing up to come along. Juilin, who is totally here of his own free will and was definitely NOT woken up by al’Lan Mandragoran & the Dragon Reborn threatening him with dire consequences if anything happened to the women. Yeeeep. Normal day here. 

Elayne looks at Thom, who was banging her mom back in the day, and tugs on his mustache because it just felt right. Hilarious behavior, babe, never change. Nynaeve makes the men promise to follow her orders before she agrees to them joining.

Later on the ship, Thom + Elayne talk about stories and how stories and legends can't necessarily be trusted as completely factual. Stories change in the retelling. The whole time she’s like “wow, this guy is sooo familiar”. Given that it sounds like she was a toddler when he left, this is impressive.

Elayne discovers that the Windfinder of the Sea Folk is a channeler. Gasp, shock, etc. The Tower is very set in its beliefs that all channelers should go to them, like Aiel and the Sea Folk (and others, I'm sure!) don't learn from their own elders. Elayne swears she won't tell, if she can avoid it. She asks for Jorin to teach her.

And hey, we finally get to know Rand's plan! Well, part of it, anyway. He's sending the Tairen High Lords to Cairhein w/ grain. And he's taking the Aiel to Rhuidean. Conveniently, that's where Egwene and Mat are going too! Rand sure is taking Moiraine Damodred to the Three Fold Land, an infamously insular place. except for that time 20 years ago when, what Was it again? OH YEAH - Laman Damodred, Moiraine's uncle, cut down an offshoot of their extremely sacred tree. There was a very funny meme about that somewhere.

Rand puts Callandor back and feels way better. It's got a trap in case anyone tries to take it. Moiraine's doing a lot of "I need to isolate Rand from all other influences in his life so that he only has me to rely on so I can make sure he doesn't fall to the Shadow." The original gaslight gatekeep girlboss.

Rand et. Aiel leave Tear and he reveals stage 2 of his Rube Goldbergesque plan: Portal Stones.

Nothing has ever gone wrong w/ Portal Stones, no siree. We are ignoring the 3-month timeskip and living through different lives thing.

Egwene and Aviendha are like "Rand, why were you so mean to Elayne =(" and he's like "??? because I didn't try to stop her from doing what she wanted to do and would've done no matter what I said??"

We're getting more Aiel information! Lots of the clans have blood feuds but they all swore when out of the Waste they'd pretend to be one clan and people, so no wetlanders would see them feuding. also the 1/5th rule, which I knew about because Myth told me. Honestly, extremely reasonable of them. Do they make a big spreadsheet of items then decide based on what stuff is the easiest to carry? I hope so. Maidens of the Spear double as accountants.

Anyway, through the Stones we go~.

[missdronio16]

And that's why, when he comes back to the White Tower, Lan always finds his room full of crates of beer.

[moghedien]

I like to think that since Nynaeve and Egwene were in a room alone with just Siuan and Moiraine for like two whole minutes, they absolutely caught onto the fact that they’re together and they also weren’t told about the exile by Moiraine so they don’t even know that there’s any supposed tension there

But then they get back to the Tower to train and someone makes a comment about Moiraine and Siuan hating each other and they’re just like “what, they don’t hate each other they’re clearly boning?” and everyone else is just like “what a ridiculous thing to believe”

[far-dareis-me]

Moiraine “whole tower” Damodred

[roman-writing]

kept impulse dormant (1/?)

Fandom: The Wheel of Time

Pairing: Moiraine Damodred/Siuan Sanche

Rating: T

Wordcount: 11,817

Summary: The White Tower is not at all what Siuan expects, and neither are the people she meets within it. A prequel to "New Spring" covering the three years of Moiraine and Siuan as Novices. (some minor book spoilers)

Read it below or read it here on AO3

         “We were dreamers, both of us, unpractical, reserved, full of great theories never put to test, and, like all dreamers, asleep to the waking world. Disliking our fellow men, we craved affection; but shyness kept impulse dormant until the heart was touched. When that happened the heavens opened, and we felt, the pair of us, that we have the whole wealth of the universe to give.”      

         — Daphne du Maurier, ‘My Cousin Rachel’     

-

 The White Tower is veiled in fog the day Siuan arrives. Weeks of riding on horseback with a Yellow Sister and her Warder, weeks of anticipation building up to see the far-flung mythic city of Tar Valon, and when she finally gets there it's barely visible through the bloody mist. Fucking typical.

 They lead her up the paved streets, people milling about while the Yellow Sister navigates the city like she was born there. Siuan’s horse plods sturdily along in their wake, heedless of the reins held slackly in her hands. It isn’t as though she could’ve done much to redirect the creature even if she wanted; horses are as unfamiliar to her as this place. And as it had been over the last few weeks of traveling, she simply allows herself to follow, bridling against the questions bubbling up in her chest. The Yellow Sister and her Warder aren’t unkind, but they are a quiet duo, unused to companions other than each other. They haven’t exactly been the chatty type along the journey.

 They dismount at the gates of the White Tower itself, deep in the heart of Tar Valon. Tipping her head back, Siuan can scarcely see more than a few paces up the intricately carved stone walls. It should have shone like a beacon in the sun. Now it doesn’t do more than glisten greyly through the mist.

 “What happens now?” Siuan asks, unable to help herself, as she hands the reins over to a stableboy that runs over with an outstretched hand.

 The Warder has struck up a conversation with the stablemaster a few steps away, but the Yellow Sister, a grey-eyed Arafellin woman by the name of Yuan, turns to her. “Now, I take you to the Mistress of Novices to be processed for admittance into the Tower.” She gestures as though to a pet unable to make up its mind at the door. “Come.”

 Gritting her teeth, Siuan has to bite back a sharp retort. Yuan has already started striding inside, and Siuan has little choice but to do what she’s done ever since Yuan had stumbled across her — follow. The golden bells in Yuan’s hair jingle slightly when she walks, the sound accompanying every step. In the cold grey stone halls, her deeply yellow riding dress seems rich in comparison, even with weeks of dust cottoned onto the hems from the journey. Siuan jogs slightly to catch up so she can walk at Yuan’s side.

 Young women in white robes scurry about. Most give Yuan a quick curtsy or bow in passing, which the Yellow Sister largely ignores. When a fellow Aes Sedai in a grey-fringed shawl crosses their path however, the two of them pause to engage in a friendly exchange. It is brief, but Siuan still crosses her arms and hunches her shoulders. She idly taps her fingers against her opposite arm, studying a passing gaggle of young women in white, and the Grey Sister stops talking to Yuan to give Siuan a once over.

 “Where did you pick up this one?” she asks.

 “I found her in Tear,” answers Yuan, and the two of them have now both turned to study her as though she were a rare curiosity hanging in a shop’s display cabinet. “An orphan, living with at least half a dozen uncles above a fellmongery. The smell could’ve driven you mad.”

 Hackles raised, Siuan smiles thinly at them and says, “Helps you remember you’re alive.”

 The Grey Sister does nothing more than blink owlishly at her remark. Then she continues speaking to Yuan as though Siuan hadn’t said anything at all. “Merean will have fun with this one.”

 “Hmm,” says Yuan, then lightly touches the other’s elbow. “Shall I drop by for tea later?”

 “Tomorrow morning?”

 “Perfect. I’ll see you then.”

 And just like that they’re on their way again. The Grey Sister gives Siuan an arch look in passing. Siuan rolls her eyes and follows Yuan. They don’t speak to anyone else until they reach a heavy wooden door in the centre of a long hallway. Siuan reaches out to open it, but Yuan moves to block her.

 “Might I suggest,” says Yuan, “learning to bite your tongue? Lest you regret being so loose with it. Others will not be as accommodating as I am.”

 In any other situation, Siuan would’ve fired back an incredibly lewd joke, but she isn’t back in the slums of Tear, and this isn’t a woman to be trifled with. So, she just nods instead.

 Yuan opens the door and gestures for her to step inside. “An Accepted will be here shortly to escort you to the bathhouse and then to the Mistress of Novices. Do as you are told.” And for once Yuan actually smiles at her. “Good luck, Siuan Sanche. I look forward to meeting you again.”

 A shiver of fear races down Siuan’s spine when she steps inside and Yuan shuts the door behind her. While the last few weeks haven’t been exactly pleasant, they have been civil, and they have been a known entity. Now, alone in a windowless antechamber lit with smoking candles, Siuan feels as though brambles are winding fast around her ankles and neck. She turns and immediately goes stock still.

 She isn’t, as she’d first thought, alone. On a wooden bench there sits another girl about the same age as herself. The first thing Siuan notices about her is that she’s short, even when seated. Short and dark-haired, with eyes that are as dark as they are piercing. She is sheathed in a high-collared dress of rich black silk with bars of sewn red and green and white cloth draped to her knees. The outfit is embroidered within an inch of its life, gold thread everywhere, even on the black leather riding gloves and the tops of her black boots. Even her long hair can’t escape such treatment. Through it is woven a gold chain that comes together in a blue stone suspended over the centre of her forehead.

 If there is a single person who looks just as out of place as Siuan among all this pale stone and white-garbed Novices, it’s this one.

 Hesitant, Siuan walks closer, feeling like she’s approaching some young and fabled queen. The other girl’s dark eyes are upon her, and she sits ramrod straight, perched on the edge of the bench as though upon a low-slung throne. Then she turns her gaze away to look ahead of her, ignoring Siuan’s presence completely.

 When Siuan clears her throat, the noise echoes through the room. Tapping her palms against the tops of her thighs, Siuan hazards a stab at conversation. “How - uh - how long have you been waiting?”

 For a moment it seems the other girl would not answer. She doesn't move. She doesn’t react. She continues to stare straight ahead. And when she finally speaks her voice is low and cool and silvered. “A while.”

 “Right.” Siuan nods and sinks down onto the wooden bench beside her, leaving enough space between the two of them for another person. She glances about the antechamber, one of her legs bobbing nervously up and down as she fidgets in place. “I’m Siuan, by the way.”

 “Yes, I heard.”

 Siuan waits for a few long heartbeats, then says, “Normally when someone introduces themself, you extend them the same courtesy.”

 A flicker of that dark gaze in Siuan’s direction, and she replies simply, “Moiraine.”

 No more information is offered after that, and Siuan resumes the nervous drumming of her heel against the floor, while beside her Moiraine sits in absolute stillness. Composed as a statue. She might as well have been carved from marble. Her skin is certainly pale enough.

 "How did you find out you were -?" Siuan gestures to the anteroom around them. "Y'know?"

 "The Aes Sedai advisor at Court found me."

 Right. So. Young queen might not be a bad guess, then. A silence follows, and Siuan only realises Moiraine is waiting for an answer in turn because she has angled her head to look at her expectantly.

 "An Aes Sedai found me on the docks," says Siuan. Then she grins. "So, same thing, really."

 The quip is met with neither laughter nor even a smile. Moiraine's eyes flick down to Siuan's feet. The dock clogs she’s wearing are the only pair she owns, and should've only ever been worn outside in the mud. Weeks of traveling North had long since knocked any trace of Tairen mud from them. Yuan’s Warder had given Siuan a cloak to wear on the journey when it had rained; she clutches it now more tightly around her shoulders to hide her old Tairen rags beneath.

 “Where are you from?” Siuan asks. Anything to squelch the silence and the writhing bed of snakes that her stomach has become.

 “Cairhien.”

 “Never been. Have you been to Tear?”

 “Yes.”

 “Have you been to Caemlyn?”

 “Yes.”

 “Are you always as tight-lipped as an oyster?”

 Before Moiraine can reply, the door opens again and a woman in white strides inside. Her robes are banded in a rainbow of colour at the sleeves and hem, and her blonde hair is bound in myriad small braids. When neither Moiraine nor Siuan move from their seats, she frowns. “Well, don’t just sit there. Come on, then. Merean doesn’t have all day, and neither do I.”

 They both stand, and Siuan is surprised when Moiraine nods politely to her and holds out a gloved hand for her to go first. She does so, and the two of them follow the Accepted out. They’re led through the lofty labyrinthine halls of the Tower towards some unknown destination. At one point they pass by an arched colonnade of windows. The fog had cleared somewhat, and Siuan looks out in wonder at glimpses of the city sprawled beneath them through holes in the mist.

 They arrive at a door which leads to a narrow corridor lined with cubby holes. And beyond that another door which opens into a bathing complex thick with steam. Despite the multiple large pools sunk into the marble floors, the complex is empty but for them.

 The Accepted points towards a stone bench where towels and white robes lie folded. “New clothes, there,” she orders, then she holds out her hands. “Old clothes, here. Let’s go.”

 Siuan starts shrugging out of her clothes without any hesitation. There’s little room for shame when living crammed together with family members like so many salt-cured sardines. Moiraine doesn’t move to comply immediately, but then tugs off her gloves. She reaches over her shoulders to start undoing the back of her dress, but has to stop.

 Siuan pauses in the act of untying the simple tags holding her worn linen shirt together. “Do you -” she makes a vague gesture, “- want help?”

 Moiraine opens her mouth to speak, only to close it again. She nods, and Siuan steps around to stand behind her. A long line of small black pearl buttons marches down the centre of Moiraine’s back. Siuan undoes them one by one, the rough tips of her fingers slipping around the polished pearls, so that her face screws up in concentration. When the task is finished, the back of Moiraine’s dress gapes open to reveal a silken slip beneath.

 “Thank you,” Moiraine murmurs, when Siuan steps away.

 “No problem,” Siuan says. She resumes taking off her own clothes and piles them into the Accepted’s arms.

 The Accepted is tapping her foot impatiently while Moiraine strips out of the rest of her clothes. There are more layers to the outfit than Siuan would’ve originally guessed, and when she finally hands everything over the Accepted is visibly annoyed.

 The Accepted jabs a finger towards Moiraine’s forehead. “The jewelry, too.”

 Moiraine’s hands clench into fists and her face is frozen in a way it had not been before. The air is warm and thick, but it suddenly seems chilly what with the way Moiraine is looking at the woman now. Slowly, she reaches up and unthreads the fine golden chain from her hair. Her fingers are trembling somewhat when she drops the blue stone atop the rest of her clothes in the Accepted’s arms, chain coiling tightly together.

 “I’ll be back in a moment,” the Accepted says briskly. “Don’t take too long to bathe.”

 Moiraine stands there with her arms crossed over her chest, looking considerably less severe without all her finery. Siuan doesn’t waste any time and walks over to one of the baths. To her it is the height of luxury to sprawl out in a heated tub designed for twenty people. Moiraine on the other hand sinks into the water across from her and draws her knees up to her chest.

 Siuan sighs, tipping her head back towards the ceiling so that the hot water laps just beneath her chin. “This must be what it's like to bathe in a palace.”

 “They’re nothing alike.”

 Eyes snapping open, Siuan stares at her. “I was joking. You’re really from a palace?”

 Rather than answer, Moiraine dunks her head briefly beneath the water and resurfaces, scraping her hair back so that black strands of it cling to the side of her neck. Her pale skin is already starting to go pink from the heat. Siuan tries to engage her in conversation again, but Moiraine answers in cool clipped tones and deflects when asked about anything personal.

 Any further opportunity to pry is whisked away the moment the Accepted returns and chastens them for still being in the bath. They dry off and dress quickly, Moiraine turning aside to do so. Ridiculous, really. It isn't like they hadn't already seen more of each other in an hour than most people saw of one another in a lifetime. Somehow, she suspects that is going to become the new norm. For both of them.

 The Accepted hustles them out of the bathing complex and down the hall. The white Novice robes are long, extending all the way past Siuan's ankles. She stumbles more than once, cursing her new hems and wishing she still had her pants and shirt. The fabric is a light and fine-spun wool, easily the nicest thing Siuan has ever owned.

 Beside her, Moiraine doesn't trip. Not once. She seems to glide everywhere with a practised grace. Meanwhile the Accepted shoots her a dirty look when she tries and fails to accomplish the same airs.

 They stop before a door, and the Accepted rounds upon both of them. "Bow or curtsy when you see the Mistress of Novices. Or any Aes Sedai, for that matter. And for the sake of the Light, do not speak unless bidden."

 When the Accepted turns away to open the door, Siuan mimes locking her lips with a key and throwing it at the back of her braided head. Moiraine doesn't make any comment on the action whatsoever.

 They are ushered inside a warmly lit office filled with bookshelves that are laden with curios and blue-patterned Sea Folk pottery. A few extra seats line the far wall, but otherwise a single large wooden desk commands the space. Behind the desk sits a motherly looking woman with greying hair clapped back in a bun. The Accepted immediately curtsies to her. Moiraine and Siuan follow suit, though Siuan tries her best to copy Moiraine's more elegant movements from the corner of her eye.

 The woman doesn't react at first. She is writing something in a large book. The tip of the quill in her hand scratches against the page until she calmly and in her own time sets it into a little holder beside an inkwell. Only then does she glance up and say, "Thank you, Charis. You may go."

 The Accepted curtsies again and leaves with a sidelong glance at the two of them. Siuan winks, and Charis' face flushes before the door shuts behind her. Feeling smug, Siuan turns her attention back to the desk, only to be met with the hard gaze of the Mistress of Novices. Where not a second earlier she had looked like no more than someone’s kindly mother who liked to spend her time baking sweets for the local children, now her entire demeanor has shifted and she has a dangerously brook-no-nonsense air.

 When she speaks again it’s in a soft voice, the kind of tone one has to lean forward to hear. “I am Merean Redhill, Mistress of Novices. During your time here, I am the ultimate authority to which you answer, other than the Amyrlin Seat herself. If you have complaints, you come to me. If you have problems, you come to me. If you need discipline, you come to me. Do you have any questions?”

 “Will you be assigning us tasks and training?” Siuan asks immediately.

 Merean tilts her head to one side. “Sometimes, but not always. Various Accepted and Aes Sedai will be your tutors and teachers and taskmistresses. You will be expected to obey their orders unless told otherwise by me or the Amyrlin Seat.”

 "How long does this whole thing take?" Siuan asks.

 Merean's eyebrows rise and she levels a look at Siuan. "This thing?" she repeats.

 "Yeah. Becoming an Aes Sedai." Siuan waves towards the Mistress of Novices. "How long does it take?"

 "That," says Merean, "depends entirely upon you."

 At that, Siuan shuts her mouth hard enough that her teeth click. Well, if it's only herself to depend on, then nothing’s changed in life.

 Merean looks at Moiraine with a silent question, but Moiraine merely gives a slight shake of her head. “Well, then. There’s not much more to it.” Merean turns around the large book she had been working on earlier, and pushes it towards the edge of the table. “By signing beside your respective names, you consent to training within the White Tower. If you try to leave after signing, you will be hunted down and brought back. A half-trained Channeler is a danger not only to herself but to others, and we cannot permit you running amok. Now is your only chance. Stay and learn. Or leave forever.”

 Taking up the quill, Merean holds it out to them. Siuan feels her blood run cold in the vein. Moiraine steps forward and takes the quill without question, without comment, without even a flicker of emotion across her face. She leans down and signs her name with a tidy flourish of the quill, then steps aside and offers the quill to Siuan. Numbly, Siuan takes it, only to simply stand there, not moving.

 Merean raises an eyebrow. “Is there something wrong?”

 The words do not immediately come, and when they do Siuan hates the slight tremble she hears in her own voice. “I don’t know how.”

 If this is at all surprising, Merean does not show it. She merely waves Siuan forward and points to a spot on the page. “Here. An ‘X’ alone will suffice. It need only be a discernible mark.”

 Siuan doesn’t need to look around to know Moiraine is watching her. She can feel that keen-eyed gaze upon her. Swallowing past the dryness in her throat, Siuan steps forward. She clutches the quill so tightly that ink beads out and stains her fingertips black. The book is lined with rows upon rows of neat scrawled nonsense. Siuan blinks down at the script, unable to pick apart anything but for the general shape and flow. Channeling the One Power had come naturally to her as a child. Opening herself up to the Source, feeling the warm rush of it through her, instinctually drawing it into patterns that suited her needs at the time. The concepts of reading and writing are more daunting than anything she’s encountered yet. Not Aes Sedai. Not White Towers. Just a few words on a page.

 Siuan scrawls something on the space where Merean is indicating. She feels hot under the collar of these stuffy white robes, and the mark she makes is blotted and shaky. Merean takes the quill and Siuan steps back, clenching her hands into fists at her side. The Mistress of Novices is talking, but the words rush over her like the tide running back out to sea. All Siuan can hear is the roar of her pulse in her ears.

 Merean pulls her blue-fringed shawl around her shoulders. Then she reaches for the big book and turns it back around to herself. She writes something down, and looks up at the two of them.

 “Welcome to the White Tower."

-

 They are given their own personal quarters, clothes, and three meals a day. The meals aren’t much in terms of flavour, but they’re hot and they’re filling, and they’re taken in complete silence. The clothes are all matching — white upon white. The quarters are bare. A narrow bed. A thin mattress. A simple set of drawers. They are woken up at the crack of dawn to perform laborious tasks, to do chores, to learn. Every hour of every day is scheduled, coordinated, and filled.

 In other words, it’s the nicest place Siuan has ever lived. She has her own room. She has her own clothes. She gets to sleep in by at least an hour more than what she would be allowed back in Tear. For some reason, many of the others don’t share her opinion on life in the White Tower being an absolute extravagance. They grumble, they complain. One even tries to run away in the second week, but is dragged back by a Green Sister and two Warders. At night, Siuan can hear her sobbing in the next room over.

 Of all the soft-handed people Siuan expects to crack beneath the strain, Moiraine is not one of them. Moiraine, who looks tired in the early pre-dawn grey, but who gets on her hands and knees to scrub the floors just like the others without so much as a murmur of complaint, while people walk around them as though they’re just another fixture in the Tower. They’re not even given mops. Only buckets of soapy water and brushes barely longer than a hand. Something about building character and instilling discipline. If that were true though, then every Aes Sedai trained in the White Tower should’ve tried working a fishing boat for a few years. Then they’d really have something to cry about.

 In fact, everything seems to be as easy as fishing in a barrel until the first class they have to attend. Their group of thirty or so Novices file into a room with individual desks facing a large chalk board. At the head of the room stands Charis, holding open a book. Pinched between her fingers is a bit of chalk, and there are already lines written on the board in preparation for their arrival. Siuan takes a seat somewhere near the back between Moiraine and Coladara, another Cairhienin girl, who is far more outgoing than Moiraine, which means that by any other cultural standards she’s merely reserved rather than downright frigid.

 Once they’re all seated, Charis snaps her book shut and tosses it onto a little podium. “Inside your desks there is paper and writing utensils. Today we’re going to review the time following The Breaking. You are to take notes and prepare yourself for any test on your knowledge in the future. You will be expected to recite it back exactly as it was told.”

 As Charis continues to speak, everyone else around Siuan pulls paper and quills and inkwells from the drawers in their desks. Siuan just sits, frozen in place.

 “Do you need a spare quill?” Coladara leans over to whisper.

 Siuan shakes her head mutely. There is a buzzing in her ears and a trembling at her fingertips. She sits on her hands and fixes her gaze upon the chalk board, jaw clenched. She is surrounded by the sound of quills scratching against paper. When she glances over, it’s to find that Moiraine is working double time, scribbling as quickly as possible on two separate pieces of paper like some kind of madwoman.

 Charis has started adding notes to the blackboard as she launches into her lecture. Holding the stub of chalk delicately between her fingers, she turns. Her words falter when she sees Siuan at the back of the class, sitting on her hands. She frowns. “Why aren’t you writing?”

 It’s as if a bucket of ice water has been dumped onto Siuan’s head. It’s like tipping overboard and being dragged under by the crushing weight of a wave. It’s her lungs filling with saltwater, with fear, with panic.

 “Well?” Charis snaps.

 Siuan hears herself answer, her voice sounding distant to her own ears. “I can’t.”

 A sneer crosses Charis’ handsome features. “Then you’d best learn quickly, or you won’t last very long here.”

 For the duration of the rest of the class, Siuan sits there, feeling the swell of panic weigh down her chest like a lodestone, like she’s taking on water through the seams and all the pumps are down. Charis speaks, but the words wash over her in a meaningless babble of information. The time passes in a daze, and everyone stands to leave.

 Blinking, Siuan rises to her feet. The other Novices all file out of the class, clutching their notes to their chests, some pointing at what the other has written. Siuan stays put, until the only people left in the room are herself and Charis. Charis is brushing chalk from her robes. Siuan swallows and slowly steps forward until she stands before the podium. She hates the tremble in her voice when she speaks. “What - uh - what am I supposed to do?”

 “For what?”

 “For -” Siuan can’t say it. Instead, she mimes out the act of writing in midair.

 Charis looks at her as though she were a cockroach that had just scurried out from beneath the podium. “Figure it out. Now, stop wasting my time, and go to your next task.”

 Numbly, Siuan bends her knees in a slight curtsy — if she didn’t, Charis would be quick with reprimands — and stumbles from the class room. Hearing someone softly clear their throat, she stops and glances around. While the others had already gone, Moiraine remains standing just to the side. She looks at the open door, then tilts her head to indicate Siuan should follow her a little down the hall.

 When they’re far enough from prying ears, Moiraine hands Siuan a piece of paper and says quietly, “You should speak with the Mistress of Novices.”

 Siuan takes the page and turns it over to look at the finely penned gibberish written there. “What is this?”

 “A copy of today’s notes. For when you’re able to read it later.” Moiraine points down the hall. “Go. Talk to Merean. I’ll tell the others you’re busy.”

 Siuan tries to say ‘thank you’ but the words die in her throat. Instead she just nods, tucks the page into a pocket of her robes, and walks away. As she goes by the class room door, she catches a glimpse of Charis still inside, cleaning the chalk board. Lowering her gaze, she hurries along. She hardly registers where she’s headed, but her feet evidently know where to take her for she ends up before the heavy wooden door of the Mistress of Novices’ office.

 It’s open slightly. Still, Siuan lifts her hand and knocks. Inside a voice says, “Come in.”

 The hinges creak when she pushes the door open and then shut again. The latch clicks behind her. Siuan steps inside and Merean is writing in a smaller book than when Siuan had first seen her here. The tip of the quill moves quickly and efficiently.

 “Can I help you, child?” asks Merean without looking up.

 Hands clenched at her sides, Siuan manages to master the tremor in her voice when she says, “I would like to learn how to read and write.”

 A furrow appears between Merean’s eyebrows. Leaning back in her seat, she slowly sets down the quill. “You’ve been here for weeks. Haven’t one of the Accepted offered to help you yet?”

 Siuan opens her mouth, closes it again, then shakes her head.

 “Hmm.” Merean raps her fingernails against the polished surface of the desk. Then she lifts a page of a book she had been writing in, checking something. “Charis is in charge of your group, yes?”

 Siuan nods.

 Merean lets the page drop back down. “And what did she say when she found out you were in need of assistance in this regard?”

 Siuan doesn’t answer. She keeps her mouth firmly shut. Her face remains stiff, but Merean hums an unimpressed note at whatever she sees there. Standing, Merean rounds her desk and walks towards the door. “Come, child. I’ll take you to the library and have someone give you the proper materials.”

 Outside there is an Accepted waiting for a discussion with Merean. She curtsies when the Mistress of Novices appears with Siuan at her heels.  

 “I want you to fetch Charis for me at once,” says Merean. “Tell her to wait in my office for my return.”

 The Accepted, whose name Siuan doesn’t know, nods. “Of course, Merean Sedai. What for?”

 Merean’s face doesn’t change a whit but her voice could cut iron. “Discipline.”

 The Accepted goes pale. She gives another hasty curtsy and then rushes off down the hall. Merean pays her no mind. She touches Siuan’s elbow and guides her in the other direction. At the library, Merean leaves her in the care of a Brown Sister, who bustles about excitedly and gives Siuan a variety of reading and writing materials for her first step into literacy. The high walls are packed to the gills with scrolls and books and loose sheafs of parchment. The library branches out in various directions, a sprawling warren leading deeper into the Tower, and around every corner more knowledge than Siuan ever knew existed.

 Siuan picks up one of the brightly coloured picture books handed to her and begins to flip through it. Beneath images there are words written in bold letters, and those individual words broken down yet again into sections. “Do you have anything for me that’s less — I don’t know — childish?”

 “Hmm?” The Brown Sister places a few notebooks onto the desk in front of Siuan without glancing over. “No, dear. I mean — yes, of course we do, but not anything suitable for your particular level of comprehension. That is to say: none. I’ve been doing some research lately into early linguistic development, and the impact of visual graphophonic cues is not to be sneered at!”

 Siuan has no idea what that means. “I have no idea what that means,” she says.

 “It means you’ll take the material I’m giving you, and you’ll like it. Or, well —” The Brown Sister laughs lightly to herself. “You’ll learn from it. Whether you like it or not is entirely up to you.”

 “I don’t like it,” Siuan says flatly.

 Clucking her tongue, the Brown Sister turns and hands her a small narrow box that, when opened, reveals not a quill but a set of pencils. “Well, if you prove a quick study, you can move on to more interesting reading in time. Until then -” She pushes the stack of notebooks and picture books towards Siuan. “Don’t hesitate to ask for help, should you require it. If you need to find me, just ask for Demira Sedai.”

 Siuan piles everything into her arms and leaves. She should stay and start right away while Demira is still there and willing to teach, but her stomach twists with a burning shame, and the thought of remaining another moment makes her feel sick. The weight of the books and papers is leaden as she walks back toward the Novice quarters. At one point she has to stop and steady herself with a deep breath before continuing.

 As luck would have it, she is walking past the Mistress of Novice’s office when the door opens and Charis steps out. Her eyes are red and her cheeks are marked with tear tracks. She is wiping at her face with the colour-banded sleeve of her Accepted robes, when they notice each other. The two of them stop and stare. Charis’ eyes widen, then narrow into a glare so powerful it should have stopped Siuan’s heart then and there.

 Gritting her teeth and lifting her chin, Siuan hurries away, not daring to glance over her shoulder for fear of what ugly expression might be on Charis’ face.

 Less than a month here, and already an enemy. Great fucking start.

-

 The first Channeling class Siuan attends is taught by an absentminded Brown Sister with greying hair who spends half the time forgetting their names and the other half forgetting what lesson she’s teaching. When she trails off in an explanation to stare blankly out a window, Siuan exchanges an incredulous glance with a girl beside her who has bells woven into her dark hair, but none of them say anything.

 “Um -?” One of the other Novices near the back of the room raises her hand. “Verin Sedai?”

 The Brown Sister starts and blinks at her. “Hmm?”

 “You were about to show us how to heat the air with a weave of Fire?”

 “Oh.” Verin touches the side of her face, leaving a blot of ink that had been on her fingers behind on her cheek. “Oh, yes, of course. Pair up, won’t you? Let’s practice. One of you Channel and the other observe. Grow accustomed to seeing what your partner is Channeling.”

 They all begin to pair off. Immediately, Siuan turns to the girl beside her and holds out her hand. “Siuan Sanche,” she says.

 The girl takes it, and her handshake is as warm as her brown eyes. “Alanna Mosvani. I love your dimples.”

 Siuan smiles, the dimples in her cheeks deepening. “I like your bells.”

 Alanna releases her hand with a laugh. “I can weave some into your hair later, if you’d like. But I think we’d best concentrate on actual Weaves for now.”

 “You’re probably right. I’ll go first.”

 No sooner has Siuan opened herself to the One Power, feeling that sweetness fill her from the inside like a cup filled with water, than Verin appears at their side. Her previous air of preoccupied carelessness has vanished, and in its place a shrewdness like bloodied bait being pulled back from the point of a fishing hook.

 “Siuan, was it?” she asks, but doesn’t wait for a reply. “I think it best if you take a different partner.”

 Releasing saidar, Siuan frowns at her then at Alanna, who shrugs. “Why?” she asks, then adds quickly, “Verin Sedai.”

 Verin cocks her head, looking more than ever like an inquisitive sparrow. “Partners should always be matched by strength as well as skill.” She turns to Alanna and continues, “No offense, child.”

 Alanna doesn’t seem offended. If anything, she seems puzzled. The same as Siuan.

 “Skill is as important as power in many respects, of course,” Verin continues, glancing at Siuan. “But I won’t risk you injuring others because of your raw strength. You’re untrainted yet. Even on the simplest of tasks like this, you might do something — well — unexpected.” She gestures for Siuan to follow her. “Come with me.”

 Giving Alanna a little wave and an apologetic grimace — both of which Alanna returns — Siuan trails after Verin. The Brown Sister has begun wandering through the rows of Novices who are Channeling with varying degrees of success. Some are tentative in reaching for the One Power. Some bold. Others attempt to produce a weave of Fire only for saidar to melt away. Verin pauses to address a pair with some pedantic comment about how to best hold themselves and breathe to relax, before she moves along again.

 Verin stops before two Novices. “What was your name again, child?” she asks a girl no older than Siuan herself.

 The Novice curtsies. “Myrelle Berengari.”

 “Go partner up with — uhm — that one over there, won’t you?” Verin waves in the vague direction of Alanna.

 “Yes, Verin Sedai.” Myrelle curtsies again and then hurries off where indicated, which only leaves behind —

 “I believe you two know one another already?” Verin says.

 Moiraine has her hands clasped neatly before her, posture perfect, hair perfect, looking staged, looking like a porcelain doll someone has propped up in a pantomime of an actual person. She doesn’t acknowledge Siuan’s presence in any way, simply watches in piercing silence.

 “We’ve met,” Siuan says. She offers Moiraine a nod and is surprised when Moiraine inclines her head ever so slightly in return.  

 “Good. Now -” Verin shuffles Siuan into place until she and Moiraine stand facing each other. Siuan bunches her hands in the fabric of her robes, while Verin speaks. “Remarkable, really. The two of you. Remarkable.”

 Siuan frowns at her. “Sorry what?”

 “Well, I’ve never quite seen anyone with a strength like yours, child. I know several Sisters who couldn’t hold a candle to either of you. And at your age, too.”

 A few of the other pairs of Novices close enough to overhear do little to hide the fact that they’re eavesdropping. Siuan’s instinctive reaction is to straighten her spine and steel herself for the worst. Awe. Jealousy. Any messy mix of emotions which do not lead to easy friendships. Verin doesn’t seem to notice that her words have had any effect.

 “There.” She gently taps Siuan and Moiraine each on one shoulder to press them a step closer towards one another. “Perfectly matched.”

 Siuan looks at Moiraine, whose sloe-eyed gaze has remained unwavering throughout the exchange. The room has gone oddly quiet, to the extent that even Verin can’t not notice what’s happened. She turns around and blinks at all the Novices staring at them.

 Making a shooing motion as if trying to wave away a flock of inquisitive doves, Verin says, “What are you all looking at? Keep practising.”

 Verin walks back towards the front of the room and sits behind a desk. The other Novices do as they’re told, but Siuan can feel more than one set of eyes boring into her back like awls.

 With a sigh, Siuan offers Moiraine a tight smile. “Looks like we’re stuck with one another.”

 “Yes,” replies Moiraine in that same cool, clipped tone Siuan has grown to expect. Then she lifts her hands and Siuan can see the glow of the One Power ignite around her. Bright as a furnace. Like walking past a blacksmith’s forge in a downpour. “Shall we begin?”

-

 It becomes a trend. Siuan can’t enter a classroom without an Aes Sedai or an Accepted taking one look at her and immediately pushing her in Moiraine’s direction. Even for menial tasks, they are paired together, and Siuan is left wondering what on earth strength in the One Power has to do with cleaning dishes and laundry. And without fail after every lecture, Moiraine slips her a copy of the required notes, which Siuan ever so slowly begins to be able to decipher.

 During a rare break from work to rest their aching feet and backs, Siuan chats easily with Alanna and Myrelle and Coladara, the four of them quickly taking a liking to one another over the course of the last few weeks. No sooner has Siuan sat down, however than several other Novices swarm around her.

 “What’s she like?” one of them asks.

 “What?” says Siuan. “Who?”

 “Moiraine,” another says in a hushed tone, glancing over her shoulder to ensure that Moiraine is, in fact, on the other side of the room and not suddenly within hearing distance.

 “Has she said anything?”

 “Has she done anything?”

 “Has she -?”

 The rapid queries continue to roll in. Siuan exchanges a puzzled look with Myrelle, who appears both amused and bemused at the sudden attention. Meanwhile Alanna and Coladara are busy chatting about something else to the side.

 Holding up her hands, Siuan interrupts in a dry tone, "So far, I’m sure you’ll all be thrilled to learn that she has scrubbed a latrine.”

 "Yes, but what did she say to you?"

 "Nothing."

 "Oh, come on, Siuan! You can tell us!"

 "She barely talks to me." Siuan remembers cracking a bawdy joke — something about getting shit on their hands; it had been funny at the time — only for Moiraine to blink in surprise. The corner of her mouth had twitched, but she'd returned too quickly to their task for Siuan to tell if she was really smiling.

 The others lean closer with a flash of cunning in their eyes. "But she does talk to you,” one of them points out. “That's more than she talks to anyone else."

 Siuan rolls her eyes. "Don't you have anything better to gossip about than another Novice?"

 They don’t.

 Always the rumours. Always the whispers. When the Novices ask Siuan about Moiraine, even nearby Accepted slow their steps to listen. It’s inescapable, no matter how much Siuan deflects, how much she jokes and refuses to involve herself. It’s not like she’s suddenly an expert on everything Moiraine just because they’ve been paired up for tasks. Siuan doesn’t even know Moiraine’s full name, only learning it through involuntary gossip.

 “Damodred,” they whisper behind cupped hands. As if that’s important. As if Siuan is supposed to know what the fuck that means.

 “Nobility,” Coladara explains in a hushed voice, while they’re walking together as a pack to their next lesson. A good distance ahead of them Moiraine walks towards the same destination. There’s a bubble around her that other Novices do not step into.

 “So? Who cares?” Siuan says. “There are lots of nobles who are Novices and Accepted.”

 Alanna drapes an arm around their shoulders and she sticks her head between them as they walk, so that they’re three abreast. “Yes, but House Damodred isn’t just a noble House of Cairhien. It’s the noble House of Cairhien. Her uncle is the king. And I’ve heard that her brother recently married the new Queen of Andor.”

 “Still doesn’t seem like that big of a deal,” Siuan grumbles.

 Alanna sighs and leans her head upon Siuan’s shoulder. “Oh, Siuan. Where is your sense of romance?”

 “I prefer a bit of slap and tickle without any of the frills, thanks.”

 The other two titter at Siuan’s vulgarities. Up ahead, Moiraine’s footsteps slow somewhat. Both Alanna and Coladara go stiff and clam up like they’ve been stung by a ray-fish. But Moiraine only pauses to dislodge a stone from her shoe before continuing on her way. Alanna and Coladara breathe sighs of relief, then squeak when Siuan prods them in their stomachs.

 “Serves you right," Siuan says with a grin.

-

 It’s not that Demira Sedai is a bad teacher. She’s just preoccupied with unimportant aspects of learning. Like proper penmanship. And Siuan would rather grab ahold of a live lionfish with her bare hands than be forced to painstakingly re-write the alphabet one more time. She has pages and pages full of alphabets. Yes, her penmanship is atrocious. No, she doesn’t give a single swimming fuck.

 Siuan is in the library yet again, glowering at a new picture book Demira has made for her. She flips through it, easily catching the patterns and shapes of words and letters, filtering them into something that makes sense. The desk she sits at is a messy sprawl of notebooks and pencils and picture books, all of which she’s torn through like paper hulls. Demira has left her to work in peace, and Siuan chucks down the picture book and glares at some of the nearby shelves full of dusty tomes.

 She can’t even pick out the labels — the words are long and complex, compounded and unfamiliar — but at least they won’t be children’s stories. Just as she’s contemplating abandoning Demira’s picture books, a white-robed figure walks by her secluded corner of the library, then slows to a halt.

 Moiraine peers over at her, framed between two towering shelves of books, her dark hair stark against the whiteness of her Novice robes. Her eyes dart down, taking in the spread of learning materials across the desk. “Would you like help?”

 Siuan has to bite back her gut reaction to snap a retort when she sees not a hint of mockery in Moiraine’s expression. Jaw clenched, Siuan nods. Walking over, Moiraine scrapes back a chair and sits beside her, pulling the picture book Siuan had discarded closer so they can both read it atop the table.

 “They’ve given you a children’s book to read?” Moiraine says, turning one of the pages to reveal another brightly painted picture and a few scarce sentences. When Siuan does not answer, she closes the book entirely. “What do you actually want to learn?”

 Siuan scowls. “To read and write. I thought that much was obvious.”

 “I meant: what subject interests you?”

 “Anything that isn’t made for five year olds.” Siuan shrugs. “History, I guess.”

 Without another word, Moiraine stands and walks off. Siuan frowns after her. She picks through the picture book as she waits for Moiraine to return. Moiraine’s arms are filled with a stack of dusty old tomes, which she sets on the table before sitting back down.

 Siuan’s eyebrows hoist up towards her hairline. “Won’t those be too complicated?”

 Moiraine pulls one of the thick books down and flips open to the first page. “You’re smart. You’ll learn quickly.”

 “Bold words from someone who’s barely strung two sentences together with me,” says Siuan dryly.

 In answer, Moiraine angles the book towards Siuan and taps the first paragraph. “Go ahead. Read to me. I’ll follow along and help, if needed. Make sure to write down words you don’t know, and we’ll practice them later.”

 Siuan sits up straighter. She frowns down at the page, at all the tiny words with all their tiny letters forming sentences longer than any she had tried to decipher yet. A few words pop out at her on the page. The shape of them is familiar more than anything else.

 “Did you bring me a history of Tear?” Siuan asks.

 “You’re Tairen, aren’t you?”

 “Yes? And?”

 “And,” says Moiraine, “I thought it best to start you with a familiar subject. Unless you’d like to read about Ishara, first Queen of Andor?”

 “I would actually.” Siuan shuts the book and pushes it away with a grimace.

 A muscle twitches in Moiraine’s cheek. It might have been a smile. Then again, it might have been a figment of the imagination. Clearing her throat, Moiraine pulls out another book and props it open between them.

 Siuan nods towards the book. “Are you related to her?”

 “Who? Ishara?” Moiraine makes a derisive noise and shakes her head. “Don’t tell me the other Novices are spreading nonsense rumours like that.”

 “They said your brother is married to the Queen of Andor.”

 “Yes. That much is true at least.”

 Siuan leans her chin on her fist and grins. “So, you are related to her, then?”

 Rolling her eyes, Moiraine pushes the book so that it nudges against Siuan’s elbow propped against the table. “Stop stalling, and read to me.”

 Siuan sticks out her tongue at Moiraine before peering down at the book. “Are you always this bossy?”

 “Yes.”

 She looks up just in time to see the sparkle of Moiraine’s dark eyes, the barest trace of a smile at the corner of her mouth. If Siuan hadn’t seen it, then that cool clipped tone would never have clued her into the fact that Moiraine was joking. With a little huff of laughter, Siuan focuses on the book and haltingly begins to read.

-

 Charis is teaching a lesson again, except this time there’s another Accepted with her. A severe looking young woman with dark hair and a gaze sharp enough to cut. She sits at the back of the room with her legs neatly crossed at the ankle beneath her chair, while Charis stands at the front, writing down their lesson plan for the day on the chalk board.

 “Who’s that?” one of the Novices mutters under their breath as they all file into the class room.

 “Have you been given permission to talk?” Charis asks without turning around. The Novice ducks her head and scurries to her seat. When they have all taken their seats, Charis sets down the piece of chalk and dusts off her hands. “Some of you may have noticed we have a guest today. Elaida will be teaching you on the Old Tongue and some Channeling next week. She’s been asked to sit in on the day’s lesson and observe.”

 Elaida does nothing to indicate she’s taken any notice of Charis’ announcement whatsoever. Instead her gaze roves over each of the Novices in turn, landing upon Siuan and Moiraine. She tilts her head to one side as she studies them, and Siuan doesn’t like the look in her eye.

 They’re learning logic patterns today. Charis takes them through a series of puzzles that she’s copied from a scroll onto the board, each more tricky than the last, calling on various Novices to choose from an option of answers listed beneath each problem. About halfway through the class, Siuan frowns at the last puzzle, and lifts her hand.

 Charis pauses. “What is it?”

 Siuan points. “The answers you’ve listed for the final puzzle are impossible. I think you drew one wrong.”

 Several heads turn to stare at Siuan for her audacity, Charis’ included. But Charis only smiles thinly. “Well, if you’re so confident -” she holds out the stub of chalk “- come and fix it yourself.”

 Siuan hesitates for but a moment. When she glances to one side, it’s to find Moiraine watching her. She gives Siuan an encouraging little nod, and drawing a deep breath Siuan rises to her feet. Charis is still holding out the piece of chalk. Siuan takes it.

 The unfinished puzzle is a series of nine-by-nine squares within another set of nine-by-nine squares, and in each smaller square there is a series of letters and symbols. The set changes from one instance to the next, until the final sequence is left intentionally blank, waiting for the answer to be filled. With definitive strokes of the chalk squeaking against the board, Siuan draws out the final sequence as it should be, then stands aside to let her work be judged.

 Charis scowls at the board. “That’s not -”

 “It’s correct,” Elaida says from the back of the class.

 Charis looks like she's bitten into a lemon. Siuan drops the chalk back into Charis’ hand and walks back to her desk. When Siuan sits down again and the class resumes, Moiraine leans over and whispers, "Well done."

 Siuan bumps Moiraine's elbow with her own and winks. A weave of Air flicks them both hard on the ears. They wince, cringing away from one another.

 "There will be silence during your lessons unless told otherwise," says Elaida coldly from behind them.

-

 Once a week, mail arrives for the Novices over breakfast. Siuan never receives anything. As far as she’s aware, she’s now the only member of her immediate family who knows how to read and write, even if her penmanship still makes Demira's nose crinkle. She could write something to her family, and they could go down to the local inn to find someone who could read it aloud to them. It isn’t an uncommon thing to happen, but Siuan never does.

 They’re not supposed to talk during meals, but Siuan had long since devised a system of looks and taps of her spoon and fingers for some rudimentary conversation with the friends around her. Moiraine is not among them; she sits at the very end of the long narrow table, eating in silence. Charis passes by Siuan and her group, and narrows her eyes when Siuan taps something out that makes Coladara choke on a mouthful of food. Myrelle pats her gamely on the back.

 “Mosvani,” says Charis, dropping a letter into Alanna’s hands before moving on to deliver the next letter. She hands out letters left and right, then gets to the very end of the table and says, “Damodred.”

 Moiraine’s head jerks up, and Siuan catches the brief flicker of surprise before she manages to hide it. Setting down her spoon, Moiraine turns the letter over in her hands. From this far down the line, Siuan can only just see the gleam of a disk of heavy black wax stamped with gold leaf sealing the letter together. Breaking the seal, Moiraine opens it, reads it, then shoots to her feet so abruptly the bench scrapes back against the floor.

 Everyone stops what they’re doing. There are very strict rules about how Novices dine in the White Tower. You don’t talk. And you definitely don’t stand up before someone tells you it’s time to go. Clutching the letter to her chest, Moiraine strides briskly towards the door, her footsteps echoing. One of the Accepted tries to bar her at the exit, but Moiraine says something to her in a low voice that has the Accepted — to everyone’s complete shock — move out of the way. Moiraine vanishes through the doors, and murmurs erupt like shock waves through the rest of the Novices left behind.

 “What do you think that was all about?” Myrelle leans forward to whisper.

 “Daes Dae’mar,” says Coladara simply.

 “Oh, come on. The Game of Houses? All the way out here?” Myrelle snorts. “I know she’s minor royalty, but even she’s not so important to -”

 “No talking!” barks one of the Accepted from the doorway.

 They all fall begrudgingly silent once more, until the hall is filled only with the sound of forks and spoons clacking against wooden bowls. Siuan tries to tap out a message to Coladara, but Charis appears behind her as if summoned.

 “I know what you’re doing,” Charis growls. “Stop it.”

 “Prove it,” says Siuan. “Oh, wait. You can’t.”

 Which is how ten minutes later, Siuan finds herself walking towards the Mistress of Novices’ office to turn herself in for glaring disobedience. It had been worth it just to see Charis’ face contort and turn bright red. Still feeling awfully smug despite the switching that awaits her at the end of this walk, Siuan passes by one of the secluded garden ledges that jut out from the Tower’s central spire in a half-moon shape. She slows her step when she hears something that sounds less like a breeze through leaves and more like a sniffle.

 She has to step over a low hedge to make it out onto the little balcony. Her hems catch on the branches and, muttering curses, she untangles herself. Rounding the garden, she finds Moiraine sitting beneath the shade of a sprawling tree, surrounded by enough greenery to normally avoid detection. Moiraine is quickly wiping at her face, but her cheeks are still wet.

 Slowly Siuan sinks down onto the ground, leaning against the trunk of the tree so that she sits beside her. Whereas Moiraine’s legs are neatly folded, Siuan sticks her feet straight out and leans her head back against the tree trunk. Together they look out over the city far below through the fluted stone balustrades. The nights have been growing longer lately as summer fades behind them, and now the sun is beginning to set over the River Erinin, setting the surface of the water to a brilliant golden shine.

 “Bad news?” Siuan asks.

 Moiraine nods. “My - uh - my father died. Three days ago,” she says hollowly. She gives the letter clutched in her hand an absentminded wave. “One of my sisters found him. The news will be everywhere by tomorrow. It's already everywhere in Cairhien. I'll be one of the last to know.”

 For a long moment, Siuan doesn’t know how to respond. Then, she asks, “And your mother -?”

 Moiraine shakes her head.

 Siuan hums a low, understanding note. A breeze stirs the branches around them, the early autumn leaves like the flutter of tawny bird’s wings. One of them flutters down and lands on Siuan’s lap, and she has to brush it off. “My parents died about a year ago. But at least I still had other family around.”

 That apparently isn’t the right thing to say, for Moiraine exhales sharply through her nose and her hand clenches into a fist around the letter, crumpling it.

 “Yeah.” Siuan grimaces. “Mine weren’t that great, either to be honest. Drunks, most of them. But they have their moments.”

 “Mine don’t,” Moiraine says in a voice so hard Siuan can’t help but believe her.

 Siuan bends her knee so she can nudge it against Moiraine’s. “Are you allowed to go back for his funeral?”

 Moiraine looks startled, as though she hadn’t considered that as an option. She licks her lips, unclenching her hand with a crinkle of paper. She re-creases the letter back into shape, pinching down on the paper folds over and over again with nervous little jumps of her fingers. “I don’t know.”

 “Have you asked Merean?”

 Moiraine shakes her head.

 With a heavy exhale, Siuan slaps her hands against her own thighs, then pushes herself upright. “C’mon. I’ll go with you. I was just heading there anyway.”

 She holds out her hand towards Moiraine, who just stares at it. Slowly, hesitantly, Moiraine reaches out and takes it. Her hand is surprisingly warm. Siuan hauls Moiraine up to her feet, and begins to pull away, but Moiraine tightens her grip. Instead, Siuan tugs her along. Together they walk from the shadow of the tree back into the White Tower, and Moiraine clutches her hand all the way to Merean’s office.

-

 Moiraine is gone for three weeks. Rumours abound in her absence. The Accepted gossip just as much as the Novices, and Siuan even overhears two Aes Sedai exchanging a low murmur of words about the young Lady Damodred’s future prospects.

 Her uncle, King Laman, has no true heirs of his own, they say. Her brother is barred from taking the Crown by law, they say. In the wake of her father’s death she has moved up in the line of contenders to the Sun Throne, they say. Her father was the target of an assassin, they say. She herself is going to be the target of an assassination attempt during her visit in Cairhien, they say. She may never return.

 Except Moiraine does return. And Siuan catches a glimpse of her walking through the halls of the Tower in high-collared severe black silks like a shade. She is being escorted by Merean and a Grey Sister that Siuan has never met before. Moiraine looks even paler than Siuan remembered. A familiar blue gemstone glints at the centre of her forehead when she turns her head and sees Siuan through a gap in the colonnade.

 Siuan lifts her hand in a half-hearted attempt at a wave. Moiraine’s footsteps falter and slow to a stop. Then, the Grey Sister puts a gentle hand on Moiraine’s back, and says something Siuan can’t hear, guiding her along. And just like that, they’ve rounded the corner, and Moiraine is gone once more.

- 

 The class being led by Elaida has already started, and Siuan has been paired up with Alanna to practice weaves. Elaida is moving between the pairs of Novices like a shark parting the shoals. The Novices collectively sweat upon her approach. Every so often she stops a pair with a severe word and a correction, which she then demands to see executed under her critical eye. Whereas Charis had been haughty yet demanding, Elaida is exacting and harsh. She’s only two pairs away from Siuan and Myrelle, when the door opens and Moiraine steps inside, dressed once more in Novice whites.

 Every weave of saidar in the room vanishes in a ripple as they all turn towards her. Even Elaida’s head whips around, her lips pursed into a pale line. Then the Grey Sister from yesterday steps into the room beside Moiraine, and everyone in the room drops into a curtsy, Elaida included.

 “Forgive the intrusion,” says the Grey Sister, her voice warm as sun-baked honey. She places a hand on Moiraine’s shoulder. “I had a few additional questions for her before she returned to regular classes.”

 “That is quite all right,” Elaida says. Her sharp eyes glance around and immediately find Siuan. “Myrelle.” Elaida points. “Join Coladara and Alanna instead. Moiraine -”

 But Moiraine is already walking towards her, gaze lowered, avoiding meeting anyone’s eye except for when she looks up at Siuan as they come face to face yet again. Elaida has gone over to exchange a few parting words with the Grey Sister, who has one foot out the door already. Many of the other Novices have already returned to the weaves they’d been told to practice.

 Siuan offers a small smile. “It’s nice to see you again.”

 At that Moiraine’s head jerks slightly in surprise.

 “It’s been too quiet without your incessant chatter,” Siuan jokes. “Plus my reading studies have sunk straight to the seabed.”

 Moiraine opens her mouth to reply, but Elaida reappears at their side like a leviathan shadow beneath the water’s surface. “Did I say that you could talk?” Elaida asks coolly.

 “No, Elaida,” they parrot in unison.

 “Then get back to work.”

-

 Unfortunately, only half of the time teaching their group has been given over to Elaida’s iron-willed scrutiny. The other half is still presided over by Charis. Siuan has been forced to invent a new way of communicating that doesn’t involve too much audible tapping, but the others haven’t been as quick to pick up the small hand signs as they had the tapping. Then again, Siuan has only been trialling the system for two weeks so far. Maybe she should give the others a bit more time to adjust.

 Sometimes however, a mere hand gesture isn’t quite enough. Especially not when Charis is being especially insufferable. Which is most of the time, if Siuan were being honest.

 They are all lined up in one of the class rooms. It’s a surprise test day, and Charis is walking down the line, one by one, and watching each Novice perform a series of weaves they were supposed to have memorised. Success is varied. Charis marks down their results on a piece of paper with a quill and a curl of her lip. She stops before Moiraine, who lifts her hands and begins to channel. Charis grunts and makes a note once Moiraine has finished. Then she stops in front of Siuan.

 Meeting Charis’ eyes with her own unwavering gaze, Siuan performs the weaves in rapid succession without pauses between, so that it looks like she’s holding an Illuminator’s fireworks display between her hands. A dextrous flash and spark, and then it’s done. Faster than any of the others by half at least. Siuan crosses her arms and waits for the verdict.

 Charis masks her shock, and her expression turns sour. "My grandmother could've done that better," she sneers before moving on down the line and commanding Alanna to perform the same weaves.

 Under her breath Siuan mutters, "Your grandmother could've done me better last night."

 Beside her there is a strangled sound. Siuan glances over. Moiraine's face is pinched, and she is biting her lower lip. She catches Siuan's eye and her chin wobbles suspiciously. She is, Siuan realises, trying desperately not to laugh aloud.

 Siuan winks, and Moiraine has to pretend to have a coughing fit.

-

 As if learning to read and write in one language isn’t enough, Siuan is, like all the other Novices, expected to learn the Old Tongue. Which means another fucking alphabet to write out again and again until it looks nice. Except Siuan’s handwriting never looks nice. She wouldn’t care if she didn’t receive fewer marks for poor penmanship, but the result is always the same. Her papers have an excellent grasp of concepts, to the point explanations, and docks for her fish-shit handwriting.

 Moiraine on the other hand already reads, writes, and speaks the Old Tongue fluently. Something about being tutored from a young age by the best governesses Damodred gold could buy. Today the library is quiet, and nobody has ventured past the secluded corner that has very quickly become their secluded corner. Siuan smuggled in a few biscuits and cups of tea, which sit on the table between them, hidden from plain view by towers of books cleverly stacked to avoid the anger of any Brown Sister who might wander by. Today is also one of the days where Moiraine refuses to speak to Siuan in anything but the Old Tongue.

 "To help you learn," she insists while digging through a satchel for a spare quill. She then adds in the Old Tongue, "Repetition is the mother of learning." It sounds like some kind of terrible idiom.

 "Bugger your mother of learning," Siuan grouses. She bites into a biscuit.  

 Moiraine makes a huffing noise through her nose that might have been amusement or irritation, but she is angled away so that Siuan can’t really see her expression.

 “Did someone try to kill you when you went back to Cairhien?” Siuan asks around a mouthful.

 Frowning, Moiraine turns back to her notebook with her spare quill in hand and starts recording down vocabulary for Siuan to memorise this week. “Where did you hear that?”

 “I eavesdropped on a few nosy Accepted, who couldn’t keep their mouths shut to save their asses from a sawtooth shark.”

 Moiraine hums contemplatively but doesn’t look up from her work. “Then they’ll be disappointed to learn that there was no assassination plot against my life at my father’s funeral.”

 “Ah, but there might’ve been one against someone else’s life,” Siuan points at her with the half-eaten biscuit in triumph.

 “It’s Cairhien. That’s a given.”

 “Then what did that Grey Sister want with you?”

 “Who? Aine Sedai?” Moiraine shrugs. “She was hoping to dig into any insights about my siblings. I’m sure she’s back in Cairhien sitting behind the Sun Throne by now, whispering in my uncle’s ear.” Moiraine sets down the quill and angles the notebook towards Siuan. “Here.”

 Polishing off the biscuit, Siuan pulls the notebook closer and pours over it. “What’ve you given me this time?”

 “Swear words,” says Moiraine. Her eyes glitter darkly when Siuan looks up at her in surprise. “You should expand your curses from just those terrible idioms about fish.”

 With a bark of laughter, Siuan leans back in her seat. “You know? You are not what I expected.”

 “No? And what did you expect?”

 “A soft, stuck-up noblewoman who’d cry the second she got dirt under her fingernails.”

 Moiraine’s mouth curves into a barely-there smile. She plucks a biscuit from the plate between them. “You know, you’re not what I expected, either.”

 “Yeah?”

 Moiraine takes a delicate bite of the biscuit and hums around it. “I thought you’d be a mean, hard-nosed sailor with a filthy mouth. Instead, I got a very considerate sailor with a filthy mouth.”

 “And I got a tireless bookworm who prefers the company of libraries over the company of people.” Siuan smirks. “Careful, or you might end up taking the Brown shawl.”

 "I like libraries. They’re quiet,” Moiraine says. She brushes her fingers free of crumbles and then sets about pouring them both another cup of tea.

 “Lots of quiet places in The Tower.”

 Moiraine sets the teapot back down with a gentle click of porcelain against polished wood. “They remind me of my father. I used to try to hide in the Royal Library from my duties at Court like he did.”

 Siuan hums a note of agreement. “I used to hide from my duties at sea in the local tavern. So, same thing, really.” Moiraine gives her an amused look, and Siuan continues. “I kind of wish I hadn’t, though. More and more. I haven’t seen the ocean in months. It’s unnatural.”

 “Then we both have our comfort places.”

 “Yeah, but mine’s better.”

 “A library doesn’t have sharks. Besides, nobody bothers me here."

 "I'm here."

 "You're not bothering me."

 "I could, though."

 Moiraine shoots her an exasperated look.

 "It would be very easy. See, look." Siuan widens her eyes and puts on a high simpering voice, hands under her chin. "Oh, Lady Damodred, you're so smart and diligent and beautiful! I don’t know how I could ever compare!”  

 Moiraine nudges her knee beneath the table. “Siuan,” she says warningly.

 “Can I carry your books for you, Lady Damodred? Can I lick your boots, Lady Damodred? Can I bend over and -?”

 Moiraine picks up the notebook and lightly smacks Siuan's shoulder with it. "Stop that. Siuan! Siuan!”  

 Siuan wards off the blows by lifting her arm, struggling to keep up the joke through her laughter. It soon dissolves into nothing but laughter, from the both of them, the sound echoing through the high and vasty vaults arching overhead. She only lowers her arm, when Moiraine gives up and tosses the notebook aside.

 “You’re terrible,” Moiraine leans back in her chair and she is wearing a smile. A real smile. Big, relaxed, and carefree. It transforms her face, her eyes, her overall carriage. It’s like stepping into a pool of sunlight, warmth washing over her after being locked away in the damp and dark for who knows how long.

 “Six months,” says Siuan.

 Moiraine’s brows knit in confusion, but her smile is not diminished. “Pardon?”

 Siuan points at Moiraine’s face with a grin. “That’s how long it took me to get you to smile. Six months.”

 A shadow of confusion passes over Moiraine, followed by a breathless little huff of laughter. She shakes her head and looks away. “That’s not true.”

 “No?” Siuan nudges Moiraine’s foot with her own.

 “No.” Moiraine traps Siuan’s foot by tangling it between her ankles. “You’ve made me smile many times before this.”

 A rush of affection swells in her chest with such sudden and startling clarity that Siuan is taken aback. Clearing her throat, she pulls her foot free and lifts the page that Moiraine had written for closer inspection. “Bajad drovja,” Siuan says, picking through the Old Tongue script slowly, then reads the translation and grins wickedly over the top of the page at Moiraine. “Oh, I’m going to like this.”

 “I thought you might.” Once again Moiraine smiles back.

 Siuan had hoped the effect would've worn off after the first time. But it hasn't.

--

Notes:  

-most of this is taken from the books, but I’m keeping the casting consistent with the show instead. Except for short Moiraine. Short Moiraine ONLY.

-I don’t think we know who exactly found Siuan and brought her to The Tower, but I’ve chosen Yuan since she was at Moiraine and Siuan’s raising to the shawl in New Spring.

-Though it’s not really discussed in the books, Dalresin Damodred died in 972, which means Moiraine would’ve been in her first year as a Novice at the time.

-972 is also the year of the Third War of Succession in Andor, resulting in the crowning of Queen Morgase Trakand and her marriage with Taringail Damodred. A LOT happened this year for our girl god damn��

-This started off as a “Moiraine and Siuan first time fic” and turned into “Moiraine and Siuan first time but also the author torments Moiraine with events that are mentioned in canon but never truly explored in canon.”

[alectology-archive]

Moiraine spends most of new spring praising her girlfriend to the ends of the earth for being clever but honestly points to her for managing to out-manoeuvre the whole tower which was rooting for her to take the sun throne and figuring out that aes sedai hold as much power as rulers but have the added benefit of not being hindered by ceremony, politics and the such - aside from the very important task of finding the dragon reborn being possible to undertake personally only as an aes sedai. 

and good for her! although it’s interesting that it’s implied that a major part of her aversion to that kind of power stems from the twisted damodred history and she fears that she’s inevitably bound to end up like her terrible uncles and ancestors just because bearing the very name and blood make it a sort of inevitable legacy. even carewin didn’t have a spotless reputation and she was supposedly the best of the damodreds and moiraine probably felt she was being set up for failure as opposed to the freedom and opportunities that sisterhood at the tower offered, which would enable her to mostly forge her own paths and chase her own destinies. also interesting that the books sort of reflect this by not revealing her damodred heritage until around book 4-ish, iirc.

[zahri-melitor]

The Shadow Rising

Okay, this book actually had a balanced three plot story? Nice difference! Would love to see that more often. Comments as I went:

“On the day they were raised Aes Sedai, at the end of the Aiel War, Siuan and Moiraine had walked away from one another and afterwards behaved almost as strangers” - look how good they were at plotting if they almost fooled YOU Elaida.

Joiya going “oh that MOIRAINE she knows nothing of Tower complexities, she’s never home. maybe she understands VILLAGE politics” the absolute shade. Think she’s doing ok, Joiya, but glad you think her wily Blue ways are not up to scratch.

Elayne and Moiraine having a bonding moment over politics and I’m very happy about that for them!

I’m quite enjoying Rand and Elayne actually spending time in each other’s company, rather than wandering around complaining to their friends they can’t stop thinking about the other. Progress! (Elayne and Egwene discussing how they’re going to deal with the dump-and-pick-up of Rand however is a no. I’m just a simple woman pleading whether Jordan had ever spoken to teenage girls?)

They’re all such TEENAGERS cmon kids.

I am immediately on team Rhuarc. Grow up and behave, children!

…we just have ELVES through this ter’angreal? ELVES?

Okay, Mat, Rand and Moiraine all progressively stepping out of the ter’angreal is hysterical. YOU SNUCK OFF TO GET ANSWERS FROM THE ELVES TOO MOIRAINE. YOU CAN’T BE TOO SMUG.

Still can’t get over the “the Amyrlin says we can do what we want” papers literally saying that. I thought it was just a funny “get away with murder” meme, not so incredibly literal.

Thom and Moiraine showing their hands to each other in a “yes yes we both are aware, now can I convince you to do X” manner.

Wise Ones! And now I am even more confused about Rand’s parents. You have too many parents, Rand.

Seems like it’s time for people to do foolish things, but wow Mat you’re an idiot.

…the elves are snakes and foxes, and also known as the “Aelfinn and Eelfinn”? Yeah that’s not sinister at all.

Verin, you’re the absolute best.

The Whitecloaks are still trying to be intimidating and they’re still failing. They are so bad at this. So bad. Why are these idiots even considered to be a threat?

Ok now I now (mostly) understand Rand’s parents, though I now suspect Gitara of some extremely complex manoeuvres. Hey Gitara, was that last prophecy REALLY unexpected or did you make sure Moiraine, as a Damodred Accepted, was nearby? Also, wow Luc, what were YOU up to, haunting the area just to kill Janduin?

Wait fuck is the “Lord Luc” being a pain over at the Two Rivers Tigraine’s brother Luc? Has he been turned by the Blight after too many years in the Borderlands?

Egwene, you are SUCH a teenager at the moment. Cannot wait for you to grow up a bit more.

We really do just go around skyclad for all Women’s Magic Business, don’t we.

Oh my god Thom actually talked to Elayne (while she was drunk) and Perrin and Faile actually communicated important information about themselves to each other! What is this madness? Also, Perrin/Faile remains the most well founded and balanced relationship so far, which is not the impression I get from the fandom. At all.

Nynaeve: I am NOT a little girl Wise Ones: you are babby. Here wear babby clothes Egwene: losing it Nynaeve: I am suspicious but unconvinced who caused this outrage.

Fuck the Tuatha’an and Aiel revelation is so good. SO GOOD. Though I’m interested by the implication Moiraine did NOT get the mad history tour of why Cairhien and the various Aiel were mates up until Uncle Laman Doing The Thing, because from what I understand she technically also has the bloodline to peep in at steps on that process, which would be fascinating.

I’m amused by how often in this book Moiraine is just openly spying on Rand via her kesiera, with all the Old Ones hanging out with her to join in, and he hasn’t the foggiest what’s happening.

Seriously, the whole final three battles were good, satisfying conclusions to all the storylines.

Basically, my feelings about this whole book can be narrowed down to: everyone but Mat had some decent plot progression here. Rand is off on a tour of all nations of the land, Egwene’s getting an education as is Aviendha, Nynaeve and Elayne are doing their best to NOT get an education, Perrin actually seems to have a task and purpose back in the Two Rivers while learning you can’t come home again, and Mat has something? Involving ravens and the Seanchan? Eh. The plot has not a lot for Mat at present other than being an absolute pain and gambling too much.

[primeideal]

Wheel of Time Episode 5: Blood Calls Blood

The title of this episode is a line from book two about prophecies or whatever that has...basically nothing to do with this episode, cool.

We arrive at the White Tower/Tar Valon somewhat earlier than the books and I am here for it. Sometimes on rereads I'm like "IDK which is my favorite plotline, they're all good" and then we get to magic city with magic school and magic factions and worldbuilding, yessss. And the colors! Both in the sense of "they're all about Ajah color symbolism, they should have lots of decorations" but also "no more literal grimdark, let's see color in these fantasy worlds!" Hype. "And now you're wondering if you can ever go back to the world you knew before or how you'd fit in. You can't, I had the same experience." :( Moiraine of House Damodred. Why are the Whitecloaks patrolling outside of Tar Valon? Feels like that's the last place they'd want to be. And the Tinkers' method of civil disobedience is...Red Rover. Inspiring. (Though I feel like the Two Rivers response to the Trolloc threat in book ~3 or 4 isn't that different?) Rand: "Egwene thinks she's the reincarnation of Jain Farstrider or something." (I expected Loial to go "but he's not even dead.") Stepin is pouring his heart out but still finds time to joke about Alanna's harem. Priorities! And now Stepin must cast the ring into the fire. Great visual/imagery using the TV medium to add some worldbuilding that's not in the book, but also, I feel like I've read this epic fantasy. Egwene gets groped by the Whitecloaks, who also remove her braid. Maybe I'm just prejudiced by daydreaming about Rule 63 Galad, but I don't see why women can't be zealot inquisitors, too. (Is it just Aes Sedai=women=bad??) Although this is also some nice foreshadowing of a different group who are going to dress Egwene in white and not let her wear her hair the way she wants... "The Light never does anything without a purpose." Except as my dreamwidth friend seekingferret would say, the purpose is that these characters are ta'veren so plot events just kind of randomly happen around them! "walking like gods amongst men" What are your beliefs/theology/opinions about gods other than "the Creator made the world"? If I had a nickel for every time a speculative fiction story tosses out a line like that and never follows up... Egwene probably wants to sacrifice herself for Perrin here. "Egwene was almost ten when she nearly died of breakbone fever" so she'd be old enough to remember it, I want her POV! "The fever had broken, not her" d'awwwww. In the books, this conversation comes up as Moiraine asking Nynaeve "you knew right where to find us, did you heal Egwene or one of them when you were younger?" "yeah, the Wisdom told me it was just a common childhood disease and she'd get better, but she looked in such terrible pain, somehow I got the fever to break early" "yeah you were channelling" "..." But that might have been ten years ago in show canon. Has Nynaeve been a wilder for that long? "it may take you your whole life to realize that, but you will" I hope this is not foreshadowing! (I mean it's in the context of Egwene is trying to sacrifice herself for Perrin so she doesn't think that she has too much longer. But I was idly batting around a while back about if they would drastically change any plotlines/endings, and IDK, I feel as if Perrin is the most likely to be like "all loose ends tied up, let's go on a berserker rage now" as long as none of his buddies are around? Egwene just stabs Valda before Perrin gets the chance to (so he can't feel guilty about it!) And takes the Aes Sedai rings, she already wants to avenge them. :D Moiraine: "Siuan Sanche is many things..." *sprawls out on the bed luxuriously* Alanna: "She might be up to something, you could challenge her!" Moiraine: "haha sure whatever." I wonder if they're going to merge Elaida with Liandrin's character? Stepin assumes that the healing last episode was Nynaeve's first time with the One Power. Do we know that? (Curious especially in light of the adapted "breakbone fever" scene, but also just in general. She "listens to the wind," doesn't she?) Oof, they aren't pulling punches with Stepin. :( The focus here on the Warder-Aes Sedai relationships really raises the stakes with regards to Lan and Nynaeve, but also Alanna and Rand. The whole throat singing, chest slapping Warder funeral scene isn't really doing it for me. I understand it's supposed to be a callback to the first scene, just not my aesthetic.

[ezaudiobooks-blog]

The Dragon Reborn Audiobook Online Streaming - The Wheel of Time #3

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The Dragon Reborn Audiobook Online Streaming - The Wheel of Time #3

The Dragon Reborn Audiobook Free by Robert Jordan

The Dragon Reborn Audiobook Free Download – The Wheel of Time 3

Bestseller the wheel of time

It’s a series fantasy novel which came out to be Robert Jordan’s best piece in his entire piece of writing. The series was originally thought to consist of six novels but due to increases demand it was stretched up to 14 novels.

The dragon reborn audiobook free is one of the 14 novels and is on the third number in the sequence. The whole series is actually based on certain elements of Asian and European mythology. The wheel of time audiobook tries to depict a balance between dark (evil) and light (pure) in the world. The whole series of novels is somehow inspired by the War and Peace of Loy Tolstoy.

The plot Summary

The boy Rand al’Thor is the dragon reborn declared by Moiraine Damodred in this audiobook. He goes to Tear secretly. On his way there Darkfriends and Darkhounds hunt him. The plot of the dragon reborn audiobook free is basically based on three events:

The journey from the Mountains of Mist to Tear.

The journey from Tar Valon to Tear.

And the end climax of the stone of tear.

Review of the audiobook

The Dragon Reborn audiobook Free Download starts right where “The Great Hunt” left off, it is well received by the readers but not as well received as the previous part. This is the first book in the series where the narration is handed over to other characters and the readers/listeners got more insights on the story and characters. Mat is given a voice due to which readers enjoy his character a lot more. In this main audiobook character that is of Rand’s is significantly decreased which may not be appreciated by the audience.

This book is also a big chase but, in this audiobook, Rand is being chased after the prophecy about The Dragon Reborn and taking the sword as being the chosen one. The dragon reborn now has the power, the authority and many armies fighting at his side provided by Arthur Hawkwing. Though on the other hand, Rand who is claimed by the people as “The dragon reborn” feels so much weight on his shoulder now and due to this flees with Loial, Moiraine, Perrin, and Lan.

One of the best and great changes in this audiobook is how each character now has their own viewpoint, and they’re no longer just in the supporting role of Rand.

About author

He is an American author originally named; James Oliver Rigney Jr., but liked to work with his pen name, Robert Jordan. He was born in a town of South Caroline that is Charleston. Robert received his undergraduate degree in physics from The Citadel and was later appointed as nuclear engineering by US navy. He really liked history and his interests included sailing, chess, poker, hunting, pipe collecting, and fishing.

Despite having an amazing job and life he still followed his passion for writing and became a novelist. The first time he started writing was in the year 1977.

Conclusion

The Dragon Reborn audiobook Online Streaming is for all to enjoy. Moreover, the quality of these audiobooks is better than the actual hardcopy as the precise emotions are portrayed here. The readers/listeners are introduced to many new characters and new places as the story grows deeper and more alluring.

Download and listen

♥  You can’t miss other books in The Wheel of Time Audiobooks free by Robert Jordan on my website:

TWOT Book 0 – New Spring Audiobook

TWOT Book 1 – The Eye of the World Audiobook

TWOT Book 2 – The Great Hunt Audiobook

TWOT Book 3 – The Dragon Reborn Audiobook

TWOT Book 4 – The Shadow Rising Audiobook

TWOT Book 5 – The Fires of Heaven Audiobook

TWOT Book 6 – Lord of Chaos Audiobook

TWOT Book 7 – A Crown of Swords Audiobook

TWOT Book 8 – The Path of Daggers Audiobook

TWOT Book 9 – Winter’s Heart Audiobook

TWOT Book 10 – Crossroads of Twilight Audiobook

TWOT Book 11 – Knife of Dreams Audiobook

TWOT Book 12 – The Gathering Storm Audiobook

TWOT Book 13 – Towers of Midnight Audiobook

TWOT Book 14 – A Memory of Light Audiobook

You can download and listen full free to The Dragon Reborn Audiobook – The wheel of time Book 3, by Robert Jordan here: