That morning, Rialt woke up in a pool of sweat from night terrors. Often times, he had nightmares when his stress level increased. It reminded him of his time spent on battlefields, of all the people he had tried to heal too late. It reminded him of the more horrible aspects of his long life. He had lain awake the night before, his mind racing, unable to sleep at all. Thoughts raced back and forth, of what would happen the next morning in Cayana’s office, of why he agreed to meeting her on her territory instead of his own. It made him seem like he was searching for answers instead of her, and it made him feel like she had the advantage over him.

He had gone back to his room completely drunk. After he had talked to Kiren, who had helped him to calm down, he went to the library, and much to the dismay of the Brown Librarians, he had brought a bottle of wine with him, to completely forget about everything. It hadn’t worked at all. He didn’t quite understand it. So he went back to his rooms, and had lain down, to sleep it off and forget. But what he wanted to happen after he fell asleep hours later, was not what he was in search of. So waking the next morning, he went to the baths, and soaked for a long time, letting the soothing uke warm water sooth his chilled skin. The steam cleared his mind for a while…but he knew the time was approaching when he would have to face the Misress of Novices and see what she was on about, and exactly how much she knew of his exploits from forty years ago.

He climbed out, wrapped a robe around his person, and made his way back to his rooms as he was. It was usually customary to get dressed directly out of the bath, but he didn’t care what any of the men thought. So he trudged back to his rooms, trailing behind him a pool of water from his dripping long blonde hair that hung lazily out of the confines of his tie. He took his time getting ready… deciding it would be better to dress out of uniform. He donned a simple ensemble of clothing, something a rider would wear, not too simple, but not so plain that it would make him look like a commoner. He certainly didn’t look an Asha’man, what labeled him was his un fazed always remaining face of hard stone. He never really looked happy, but he didn’t look angry or sad either. He left his rooms, and told his the guards at his door that he was going out, and would be back when he was back.

He made his way to the white Tower, cutting through the mess halls to see if they had anything he could eat while he made his way to the Mistress of Novice’s office. There was nothing. He knew the route, even though he could count on one hand the number of times he had actually been in the room since coming to the Tower so long ago. He could tell though that he was getting close because of all the Novices and Accepted that he passed. They gave him looks of surprise; no doubt wondering what a man like him was doing wandering the Tower, especially this part of it. But no one stopped him, and he eventually came to his destination. He knocked on the outside of the door, and listening intently for any kind of response. “Come in” He heard a woman say calmly, and he opened the doors to a circular looking room.

He shut the door behind him, and bowed before taking a step forward to join the woman he saw seated before him. She was after all the Mistress of Novices and deserved his respect. Any woman or man that could handle the numbers of Novices and Soldiers deserved his respect. He had no idea what her methods were like, but he couldn’t imagine this woman as anything but nice. But he was sure she became the epitome of discipline and harsh punishment when needed. No woman became Mistress of Novices without being so. He felt his heart rate increase slightly.

A lot of things were going to come to light that day, thought many of them, Rialt imagined were going to be quite a surprise “Thankyou for allowing an audience Cayana Sedai, I hope my timing is good?” He was all formality; after all, he did know this woman. Sure he had yelled at her the night before, but that didn’t matter. It was to his advantage to retain calm and an unfazed exterior the entire he spoke with her, otherwise, he could reveal a weakness she could exploit. He did not like having to keep his guard up around an Aes Sedai, but he knew in this case, it was an exception. He calmly waited for an acknowledgment from her before completely entering the spacious room.

After leaving the dinner that evening Cayana felt nervous. What did this man know of her past that she didn't? He had somewhat led her to believe that he was the one that had made her mother pregnant, but Cayana had her doubts. Why would a respected man like Rialt do such a thing? And with an Accepted! She had until the morning to figure out how to address this matter and for some reason it didn't seem enough.

The novice that had been sent to Cayana hadn't done that serious an offense. She had dropped a vase in one of the halls outside the White Ajah corridors. One of the Aes Sedai had seen her and sent her to be punished immediately. The novice was new and had done as ordered, even when it involved going to see the Mistress of novices during a dinner party with nobles. If the novice had known the name of that Aes Sedai Cayana would have been most delighted to set the person straight on certain points, but the novice (being new) didn't even know which Ajah the Aes Sedai had been of. All adding up with Cayanas nervousness, the novice was sent to her room with a punishment harsher then really was necessary. It was stupid to do so, but Cayana was to wrapped up in her own mind that evening to care.

After dealing with the novice Cayana had returned to her rooms. For two hours she sat in her sitting room pondering how to deal with all this. Rialt had been Asha'man for long and knew the game way better they she did. She tried her best but it wasn't good enough for her sisters to even allow her to leave the tower, even with company.

She had asked him to come to her office, it wasn't her own in that sense that she felt at home there, but it would be good enough to let her have some strength in her work. He would see it as hers, no matter how short a time she had had the title Mistress of Novices. That the room itself was to her liking when it came to illusion of authority was good as well. She would have to lure out of him what had happened most likely. That and tell him about herself in a way that didn't imply him having anything to do with her nor that she was herself. She didn't like it, if he was her father she would hate to be playing Aes Sedai tricks on him. It was necessary though, she didn't have a choice.

When she finally went to bed she did sleep soundly. Her dreams warded and the dreams fairly calm even though nervousness made them seem really odd. Once she woke up she was fairly rested and got up to get ready quickly. After sending for breakfast to her room, she went to get ready, brushing her long hair and putting it up so that it wouldn't get in the way, then dressing in a dark blue, with white and light blue embroidery. It was simple work really, but it looked nice. It fit her snugly and made her look the way she wanted normally around men, her best. She was a green, Rialt wasn't the person who's attention she wanted to catch with this, but it also showed she would not dress down or up for a session with him. She would after all also have to work in this dress the rest of the day.

Once she had finished getting dressed and such her breakfast had gotten to her sitting room. She ate quickly and then left for her office to deal with todays work. Arriving she realized it would be a lot, there were already 5 novices lined up outside waiting for her to arrive, they were sitting leaning against the wall until they saw her then they all got up quickly. The new ones tried to speak but Cayana just shot them a glance that made them shut their mouths before uttering a word. She opened her door and went inside, letting it stand open for the first novice to come in after her.

7 novices later Cayana was sitting at her desk. It was still morning, but it felt like midday. Rialt hadn't show up yet and Cayana had started to think he wouldn't. Perhaps she had misunderstood his shouting at her as something more then it was. A knock on the door announced an other person. Calmly she responded "Come in," put down her pen, and folded her hands in her lap. The door opened and Cayana suddenly was very glad that she had her hands in her lap already. She grabbed her skirts. Rialt. He stood down at the floor where novices would usually stand to get their punishments, but Cayana felt like she was standing there and Rialt where she was. He was dressed down compared to last night, but even so he took this entire thing ceremoniously. “Thank you for allowing an audience Cayana Sedai, I hope my timing is good?”

Raising from her seat she smoothened her skirts before walking around the table. She knew that would show but the rest of her serenity was holding, so far. "It is fine, Mahdi al'Tain. I trust you are here to find out what happened after Avelia left the tower?" He would get what he asked for if he asked for that. The question was if he wanted her to tell him more, if he expected her to tell him more. She would find out soon enough. The nervousness was bubbling inside her. Light, get a grip on yourself! You are Aes Sedai for lights sake, act it! She really did need to remind herself of that. She even wished she had brought her shawl today, she hadn't though, it was still in her rooms.

Standing just inside the doorway, and bowing to the Mistress of Novices, Rialt let her have the upper hand on him. From this vantage point, she lorded over him, and held all superiority. That was what he wanted. It was a one of many small things that he could do to make her feel so confident that she let things slip. A big head often made those of high rank forget themselves around the lower people, and sprout off a plethora of interesting facts they did not originally intend to. But Cayana was an intelligent woman, that much was evident by the fact that she WAS the Mistress of Novices. The woman who held that position had to be, if she was going to ultimately be in charge of every female channeler short of the Keeper and Amyrlin.

She was dressed in a Dark Blue gown, not too fancy, but certainly befitting one of Aes Sedai status. She had not worn her shawl, and Rialt half wondered to himself why. It would have afforeded her one more small advantage over him, portrayl of her rank and somewhat, her personality; because all men and women had at least a part of their person reflected in the beliefs of their Shen. She was green, he had found out last night by asking a startled Accepted; which was quite ironic he mused over later. He straightened when he heard her acknowledge him, also just as formally as he had done. He set the mood by calling her by her honorary title, and she him. Though it must have felt odd, he thought, to be calling a man dressed in simple, everyday riding garb, the Mahdi al’Tain.

She rose, walked around the table, and regarded him with a not-too-pleasant-but-also-forceful-voice, "It is fine, Mahdi al'Tain. I trust you are here to find out what happened after Avelia left the tower?" There was his first surprise! She had not exchanged any pleasantries or such non-sense with him at all, which is what the case might have eluded had she been anyone else. Why WAS there always a need to exchange pleasantries anyway? They did not know each other, and Rialt had always believed that tradition an absurd one. It was rude to be so informal with someone you had just met, they deserved the respect of a title, but not a detailed explanation of the others life or eating pattern.

He gave her a smile, a genuine one, she was a very beautiful woman, and she seemed to have a nice personality…that is, unless you were a Novice sent for penance. He half wondered if she often got to switch them. He wasn’t Master of Soldiers, so direct punishment for those of lower rank wasn’t his job, but sometimes, he delivered punishments when they were needed and certainly hurt quite a few of his trainees. Training to become an Asha’man was by no means an easy feat, and the life was hard, so the training had to be as well, if not harder than what the real world may have made them face. But Cayana, she had jumped right into the reason he was there. That was fine with him, he wanted to figure this out and get on with his day. He was sick of the worry the whole mess was affording him.

“Yes, I have a few questions I would like to ask you about that too.” He did not elaborate on any of it. There was nothing else to say really, when the time came, he would grill her about anything and everything he wanted, and he knew he was going to get the answers he was looking for. If she had any, he would answer them to a point that didn’t jeopardize his own image. He stepped down from the doorway, and moved around to where Cayana was standing. He knelt slightly, took her hand in his and kissed the top, an old habit of his from many many years of his life. He was always the gentleman. His long hair flipped around in front of him. Today, he had tied it back in a normal fashion, but instead of leaving it in a pony tail, he had braided it, to completely get it out of the way. It did not make him look odd at all, it looked and seemed to fit him relatively well. He stood back up and followed her to where she motioned; two adjacent chairs, separated by a tiny round table,

He waited for her to sit first and then planted himself smoothly on the comfortable chair and waited for her to answer him. As he waited for her to gather her thoughts, he looked at the table and noticed the configurations of a glass of wine, and he unceremoniously picked up, opened it, and began to drink. ”Good vintage my dear.” He couldn’t help but compliment her on her choice of wine. If nothing else pleasant could be expressed between the two, she would at least have that. “But please, tell me about it.” He showed genuine interest. This was after all, a conference of sorts, and was going to reveal a lot to him if he could remember the right kinds of things he needed to ask.

Cayana had gone straight on to the point. She always did that when she was nervous. But then, why would pleasantries be needed with a man that shouted at her the night before without even knowing who she was? Her place in this room was to be the Mistress of Novices anyway and the Mistress of Novices wasn't supposed to be all nice and pleasant. Not really.

He didn't seem surprised at her sudden cut to the chase. She didn't know why she had expected him to at least show some surprise, he wasn't just any Asha'man after all. His face looked like cut from stone until he smiled. It was a genuine smile, but Cayana felt cold. To keep herself calm she went through a couple of novice exercises, it helped her to remain serene when he answered her. “Yes, I have a few questions I would like to ask you about that too.” Cayana nodded, but her breath caught as Rialt moved and walked up to her. She felt threatened until he knelt slightly and kissed the top of her hand. Letting her breath out slowly she motioned to a table standing off to side at the lower part of the room. They weren't really noticeable until you lit the lamps.

Walking over there she embraced saidar shortly to light the lamps, then let it got. She was calm enough for it now. His gesture and the novice exercises had helped a lot. She gathered her skirts and sat before he did. She was used to that in a way... but still not, he was of higher rank then her and he should have sat first. In her mind she went though everything that had happened since he walked through the door. It all added up, he was letting her be superior, but why? She watched him sit and poor himself a glass of wine. “Good vintage my dear.” He said after tasting it. Cayana smiled. Was he trying to make her slip? He really had no idea who she was and that she might as well want to make things 'slip' if it helped her in any way. “But please, tell me about it.” He then went on and at that she leaned back comfortably in her chair.

"You are well aware of that Avelia was sent back home about 36 years ago." Cayana started. She didn't drink, it made her look more interested in actually telling him then to lure something out of him. "She didn't choose to go to the Kin, but to return to her homeland of Saldaea." If Rialt knew Avelia he would know that much and Cayana didn't even wait for him to nod before going on with the story. "Before giving birth she was married to a young noble in search for a wife who wouldn't question him." Avelia might not at all have been like that before being sent home. Things during her upbringing suggested it, but the fact that Avelia did give her husband lenience on everything said a lot. "Once married she gave birth do a daughter. This girl had no rights to the house, but she was accepted as a child of the pair none the less and led to believe that this lord was her real father." Cayana wondered if Rialt would have thought Avelia to give up so easily, to actually not tell her daughter about her real father. Well she would just have to observe his reactions and see. "Just a year after she gave birth to an other child, a son. And in the following few years two more daughters."

She took a little pause in the telling, the story was long and she would be telling it all before letting him ask questions. To tell of all this as if the girl wasn't herself was hard though, to speak of her mother with her mothers name instead of saying mother needed disciplining of her tongue. She didn't pause for long and continued on. "As the son would be taking over the house, Avelias first child was raised to become a wife. The child didn't much like all the things Avelia taught her but up until her 16th birthday she followed her mothers wishes. Avelia used anyway she could in order to find a husband for her child, but before she had found one to her liking, the young girl found out a shred of Avelias past. Her parents were fighting one evening and the girl over heard it, including the mentioning of Avelia being sent from the tower." Cayana still remembered it as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. She had come home from a party at an other house where she even had danced the sa'sara. A few of the men had approached her that evening and she had gotten scared and gone home finding her parents arguing in the sitting room. Anyone in the house would have heard them, but they though all their children were out of the house. Cayana still remembered her mothers face when Cayana had walked into that room.

"Since this child did not feel like being married off to some man she didn't really know or like, she confronted her mother. The result being that she was sent to the towers. This was about 19 years ago." She tailed off there. Letting him think as she reached for the other glass. She needed something to wet her throat now. In her head she wondered what his first question would be. She didn't expect it to be any of the ones spinning in her head. She would have to think fast to come up with proper answers to what ever he asked.

They sat down at two barely noticeable chairs, and Rialt sat back in his, crossing his leg over one of the other in front of him. He needed to exude calm and comfort here, nothing to give her any inkling at all that he was worried or intimidated by what knowledge she held that he did not. He hated not knowing something so vital as this. It was like being a child, and having your friends tell you they knew a secret, but you weren’t allowed to know what it was. But he wasn’t a child; he hadn’t been one or felt like one in over one hundred and sixty-three years, almost two entire centuries, so he took this in stride. He forced himself to be unbothered by any revelations that might come to light this morning.

She smiled at his remark about her wine, such small things always made people proud. It reflected on their personal tastes, and thus their personality. Cleverly disguised comments and compliments would win him respect and an upper hand in her mind, but at the same time, allowed her to come off as the superior. Sure he outranked her, but that wasn’t important. He had deliberately dressed down for that fact, just a simple thing like that was the most important when making impressions and evoking responses. If looked like a common person, even if she kept reminding herself, she would still, in some part of her mind, regard him as lower, and thus reveal just a little more than she perhaps intended to. But she was also Aes Sedai, and all men and women who were associated with the Tower were bound by the oath. She would not lie, but she would be a master of diverting its meaning to become a true statement. He could do the same thing, and she knew that. She also knew that he had perhaps one hundred and forty years of experience over her, or at least a vague idea of that fact.

He cleared his ears and leaned back to listen as she spoke her story. Apparently, Avelia did not go to the accepting Kin, he had not thought that she would, but rather back home to Saldaea and her family. He had thought that Cayana was going to tell him about Avelia more, but her focus shifted. To the child…the child he had always believed had died in birth or met some similar fate. It just never registered with him that it would live. But it had. His blood ran cold, and he could do nothing but listen on as she continued on. She seemed to have a rather prosperous child hood, Avelia had married well, especially since the man who was not her father, raised her as his own. This child she spoke of was his daughter. Light I have a daughter… But he would not let his face betray him, nor his emotions play in his voice or his demeanor. “…she confronted her mother. The result being that she was sent to the towers. This was about 19 years ago." Ninteen years… right after he had bonded Kiren.

Ninetee – “She was sent to the Tower?” He felt the increase in his heart rate. Light!! She…what? He had asked the question as calmly as he could, wondering what she was hinting at. Perhaps she had been sent to learn and had been sent away. Don’t be a fool Rialt, Avelia could channel as well! The chances of that child having the spark were more than just a little good, and he knew that. Every word that Cayana spoke lent to a nagging in the back of his mind, but he pushed the thoughts away, trying to focus on the moment at hand. “What happened when she was sent to the Tower?” He feigned interest to indulge her, to get her to complete her story and all the while, he felt a bile rising in his throat and a sinking feeling dominating him.

Rialt was expressionless, clam as always with the exception of last night. She had hoped that something she said would cause some response, an extra flutter of eyelashes or something, but nothing. “She was sent to the Tower?” He asked, with a concentrated calm. If it wasn't for that hint of concentration Cayana wouldn't have known wether the Seeker reacted at all. Since this was the only thing she had nothing more to draw conclusions from then before. So she only nodded, sipping the wine she had poured for herself. A moment later he asked an other question. “What happened when she was sent to the Tower?”

Once again Cayana felt like laughing, she went though a novice exercise in her head while setting down the glass so she wouldn't. "The girl had the spark but it had not yet manifested itself. She was taken in as a novice and taught accordingly." Looking straight at the Mahdi al'Tain while speaking she just let a small moment pass before asking a question back. "Why? Why did you just let Avelia go?" It had been nagging on her ever since she found out about why Avelia had been sent away. Why hadn't her father wanted her or her mother? In a way it hurt, but it was strange that it did. She didn't know this man, perhaps Avelia didn't want him to tell anyone, perhaps she just didn't really like him. Don't be silly, Avelia wouldn't do such things with just anyone. Just thinking about her mother in such a sense made her feel awkward. You didn't think about such.

Pushing those thoughts away the only thing that came to her mind were the worry about what would happen once she told Rialt that she was Avelias child. So far he didn't seem to suspect. She didn't cary Avelias last name and so no one knew about this outside of the Aes Sedai whom it concerned. Will he tell me to leave the way he told me yesterday? Cayana thought. He had no right to do so, not at all. But she still didn't want that. After letting the thoughts run for a while she added the question. "Did you not want the child?" Her own face was expressionless at this stage, no matter how much she felt the worry inside. She wanted to know more, much more, but she was afraid that once she told him who she really was he wouldn't want to speak with her still held her thoughts. If she said to much he would leave.

Waiting for him to answer this time she took her glass once more and sipped on the wine. He had been right it was a good vintage. Cayana hadn't chosen the wine at all, it had been delivered to her room this morning by a servant. She didn't really care about wines and years and where from as long as it tasted good, she knew them mostly, but didn't care. There were better and worse wines of course, but she had other things to worry about then wines.

“She was taught as a novice.” Ah…of course she was. Why else would she go to the Tower except for asylum…? He thought hurriedly, that would mean…yes… that he had met her before. He had met his daughter. Light.. He had so many conflicting feelings that it was a pain to keep his expression completely smoothed over as it was. He had already once given up a child when he had not wanted to, and then, it had happened again. He hadn’t wanted to give up the child at all! But he knew, of all people what would have happened if he had not. It would have interfered with his duty to the Black Tower. He had sworn an oath, on his hope of Salvation and Rebirth no less! Maybe not to the tower as it was, but to the man who controlled it, the man who WAS the Black Tower in all respects.

That had been a confusing time. He used to steal away to the city often, that was where he had met Avelia. She probably would have made it to Aes Sedai had he not sent her away. There was something that had drawn him to her, something that made him take that risk again. He couldn’t say, even now, forty years later, what it had been about Avelia that made him persue her. They had been together for two years, often times Rialt had met up with her in the city and then made a gateway back to his rooms, where they could be alone. He had not been Seeker then, so there wasn’t as much privacy and they had been caught a few times together, but no one had ever said anything. No one had even known of it…at least that was what he thought. There began to be rumors of his relationship with the Accepted…and he quickly put them to rest. It was one night, when they had gone back to his rooms for some time alone, that she had told him. He remembered it like it had been yesterday, he was lying on the bed, she wrapped in his arms on top of the bed sheets. That was one thing he missed doing, just lying there next to someone, and simply being. And out of nowhere, she told him. “Rialt, I think I am going to be having your child.”

He was caught so off guard that he flinched, and he turned his head to look into her eyes, which were turned up to regard him. “What?”

“I said, I—“

“No no, I heard you..Are you certain?” What am I doing, I am Asha’man. He sat up, and she was facing upwards at him. He formed the weaves quickly, those of something called Caressing the Child, and without a doubt, it was true. He didn’t speak, the words completely eluded him. There was nothing to say, there could be nothing to say. He was…overjoyed, horrified, reluctant, and so many other things. He was not altogether unhappy, in truth he did love Avelia, perhaps not the way he had loved his first wife, but it was love none-the-less…but this could not happen. Not again, could the same thing happen. He spoke without realizing it, the words a fluid stream now, “You cannot keep it, you have to let me..” She slapped him away and launched herself to her feet. “You will do not such thing!” She seemed both outraged and saddened. “Do you not—“

“No! No I don’t! I CANNOT! Light Avelia…I never expected..” He trailed off.

“What? You expected what? I am not some common whore Rei! What of all that we have been thinking on?” It was true, Rialt did want to stop being so secretive, but not before she was raised to Accepted. The mere impropriety of it all could have gotten him into a lot of trouble, but she, she was an Accepted still, and was likely to be put out of the Tower for it. “I did not say that I didn’t love you did I!? I can’t think right now!” He grabbed his head in confusion, and frustration.

He was yanked out of the memory, and stared at the woman before him, by Cayana’s sudden question. "Why? Why did you just let Avelia go?" It caught him off guard, and he blinked a couple of times when she said it. Does she know? He couldn’t help but wonder, it sounded like she was accusing him… "Did you not want the child?" She does know…that was direct question, she knows. I cannot keep up this façade, she knows… “I never said that I didn’t want the child Cayana.” There, he had said it. He hadn’t screamed it at the top of his lungs, but she would know now, as surely as ever, that he was the man that Avelia had once loved. He did love her, even if it was a different kind of love all together than what he had known before. He had become a different man after she died, and love never felt the same to everyone. She had to understand that, but the words...they didn’t come easily to him now. For the first time in his life, he felt like there were no words to describe what it was that he was feeling.

The whole time though, he couldn’t help but wonder, who was it? Was she raised Aes Sedai? Was she here now, at this moment? His curiosity got the better of him and his mouth was open before he could stop it, “You were here then, training while she was. Do you know her…Of course you know her, otherwise you would not be talking to me now.” He was speaking to her, a frown on his face, so it must have looked like he was angry, but his voice spoke of everything but.

As Cayana told about herself becoming a novice, the Seeker seemed to go off in memory for a little while. So as she asked about why he had let Avelia go he yanked and stared at her. Suddenly she felt afraid. “I never said that I didn’t want the child Cayana.” So he really was her father then, her real father. Holding the wine in one hand she let the other lean against her chest and heart. She wouldn't be able to hold her serenity or hiding much longer at all. He really is my father. She thought to herself, not quite believing it. He hadn't screamed at her this time, at least that was a comfort.

Before she had time to collect her thoughts enough, he asked her a question. He looked angry, but his voice said otherwise. “You were here then, training while she was. Do you know her…Of course you know her, otherwise you would not be talking to me now.” Cayana smiled a weak smile, looking down into her cup for a second. "I do know her. I don't think anyone knows her as well as I do." Shaking her head she stopped twisting the words and just said it straight out. "Since I am her." Carefully she lifted her eyes to look at him. Rarely had she felt this worried and nervous. She wasn't breathing at this moment, fearing rejection. The last time she had felt it this strongly was her test for Aes Sedai. It had almost made her feel nauseous, doubting she would make it through. Once she had started though that all had gone away. Once he reacted to this all of these feelings would go away. She concentrated on that.

She would never think Lord Alhi was her father again, that there must have been a mistake made. Lord Alhi had treated her like any of his daughters. He was a good man. Still she wished that Avelia had told her of all this, this would have been less confusing if she had. Perhaps she wouldn't have pushed so hard trying to marry me off, Cayana thought. But she knew she would have ended up in the tower eventually with the spark she had been born with, wether Avelia liked it or not.

She still remembered being taught things by her mother: the language of the fans, how to hold a dagger, to recite poetry, to dance. Once she had come to the tower all of which she had learned including riding hadn't really been much good. The only good things were that which came of being born in one of the borderlands, knowledge of shadowspawns existence. There were still people who doubted the trollocks, myrddraal and all that other ever had existed, thinking it was just stories to keep children home at night. They didn't believe even when it wasn't all that long ago that these lands had been torn apart by the Dragon Reborn fighting to get to the last battle. She he had left things went back somewhat to what it all had been and people got children who didn't believe again. Children really should have more respect for their elders.

Memories and thoughts were flashing through her head as she waited. Waited for that reaction that would judge what happened from now on.

“I do know her. I don't think anyone knows her as well as I do……. Since I am her.” She went silent, and looked up, askance in her face. His world rocked. Every single thought of propriety left his mind, nothing made sense. He felt a pang of worry float up through the bond. More than worry, Kiren was frantic. To her, he was a wreck. His entire self had seemed to abandon him in that one moment, all he was or ever had been, was drowned out by those 4 simple words. Rationality, everything was gone from him, he had no idea what to do. He felt a fool, he was elated, no he was panicky. From one moment to the next he swapped back and forth. Rialt was frozen in place, just as surely as if someone had bound him with the most powerful weaves of air the One Power could create.

How..how could that be!? He had feared that she had died, had been sent away, was now married to some noble who cared nothing for her. He had thought so many things, but the thought that she had actually become an Aes Sedai, LEAST of all the Mistress of Novices, was beyond any kind of shock he had ever experienced before. She was holding her breathe, actually HOLDING it! He let out ragged intakes of breathe….Light, Light…..Bloody and Ashes!!Everything was happening so fast. She was his daughter… All that kept echoing in his head was that he had a daughter, that she was sitting in front of him, he could reach out and touch her if he felt like it! His expression had gone from one of complete control to that of absolute and utter shock, his mouth hanging slightly open even! His arms began to shake, and he felt a cold chill, hot then back to cold again. The world was a jumble. LIGHT!!! LIGHT WHAT DO I DO!?His plea went out unanswered, and he felt despair creeping in. He would send her away too, just as he had Avelia.. No, no that wasn’t possible.. Did he want to send her away? Did she even want anything to do with him? Didn’t she hate him? Was she just looking for him to admit to it so that she could call him down? No, no, she would have done it already, don’t be a fool… But you ARE a Fool, a BLOODY FOOL!

He felt Kiren in the back of his mind, even she was a distant blur to him. The only thing he could think was that he had a daughter, and she was sitting in front of him. He didn’t care for the Tower, he didn’t care for his Oaths, or his Duties, he had a daughter, and the creator burn him if he was going to sit by and ruin one of the only things that he had ever truly wanted in his life. It had been stolen from him once, he had done that, but now…Now he could mend…No you can’t mend what you have done. She hates you, and Avelia certainly does, if she was even still alive. He began to shake, his whole body a mass of shivers, visible to anyone who might have seen him. He couldn’t help it, he could do nothing, there was so much in his mind!! He felt like taking her into his arms, he felt like running and never turning around.. Rialt stood…and fell to his knees in a heap. He knew, knew without a doubt that what she told him was true. She could not lie, she was Aes Sedai.

His knees impacted with the floor of her office, and his eyes misted. Light, I will NOT!!! But he could do nothing, so confused was he, that it came in flurry. He was far from the composed, distant, unemotional man his reputation exuded him as; he was a wreck! He did not cry, but he looked on the verge of it and forced himself with the last ounce of control he had not to. He tried to stand, to face the fate that was before him now, but his legs would not allow it. So he stayed there, a look of the deepest sadness and joy in his life, if those two could be on someone at the same time. “I’m so sorry….” He whispered…and even that was a pain. He could bring himself to say nothing else. She was completely composed it seemed! What was she going to do? Was she going to stand and triumphantly announce that she was going straight to the M’Hael, or was she interested at all, in at least trying to know him. Of course she isn’t… She hated him…

At the last four words the seeker as she thought he was and always would be changed. His face became that of chock and she could read the emotions on his face as if he would have been one of the novices. Worry, fear, panic, all exchanged with elation and other emotions. He started shaking and Cayana started to get worried. What had she done? Light no! He was just sitting there at first and she didn't dare to breath. What have I done... Slowly the worry was creeping into her eyes, her serenity failing.

Rialt stood and fell onto his knees. She rose fear surging through her. With pain in his voice he said. “I’m so sorry….” She didn't know what that meant, but in any case she pulled the blanket off of her chair and wrapped it around him. She sat in front of him on her knees. Worry on her face as plain as anything. She was breathing now, her need to take care of him the only think on her mind. She was trying to warm him, rubbing her hands along his arms. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were going to react this way." She was afraid and her voice was trembling. He was in chock and such a thing could kill a person. Trying to get herself calm, she managed to embrace the source weaving the flows to check on his physical health. She had long had this talent, but never evolved it to the fullest since she didn't want to be a yellow. She hadn't dared evolve it because of how they had been hanging after her. At this moment she almost regretted it. "Light, please..." She whispered in prayer. Her hold on the source almost failing.

While sensing what was going on she felt his blood race, his heart pumping hard, his entire body shaking. Quickly she let go of the weave and made a new one. Letting it sink into his body, she slowly made his symptoms slow and disappear. She spoke again once she had let go of the weaves. "I'm sorry, I know I should have asked, but..." She looked down on the floor, she hadn't done that since raised, waiting for a reprimand on not healing anyone who hasn't asked for it. She knew fully well she shouldn't, and had even heard that reprimand before. As an Accepted when her talent had been discovered to actually be a talent.

He probably despised her and the thought of her, that was why he had reacted to strongly, panicking over if she would go to the M'Hael and announce the facts. It had been the last thing on her mind, all she wanted was answers to who she really was. Now she knew and at this precise moment she wished she hadn't found out. He was going to hate her after this, maybe even try to send her away. The seeker may have power, but to send an Aes Sedai away without good reason wasn't really possible. Still, even to know he wished it, it was hard. She could take it, she knew she could. She wouldn't have passed through the arches if she couldn't, but it still hurt.

Cayana expected to hear the door burst open any moment with Kiren running in. If she would have stepped in while Cayana was healing, what in the light would she had thought? Kiren couldn't see the flows and a Gaidin could sometimes go blind of what would happen if she believed her warder to be threatened. Kiren would perhaps hate her as well, but that wasn't nearly as hard as if Rialt did. Please, Rialt, say something! she thought to herself, feeling just like a small child, desperate inside, nervous and worried on the outside.

Cayana did not stare down at him in disgust, she did not laugh at him or point her finger, she actually seemed concerned. He couldn’t concentrate, everything was spinning. He saw her get up from where she had been sitting and came before him, a look of concern etched onto her face. She laid a blanket over his shoulders, even tried to warm him by putting the warmth back into his limbs and uttered words he heard nothing of. None of what she tried seemed to be working. She looked about her for a moment, as if searching for someone or something to help her with him, but promptly turned her gaze back to him. He stared into her eyes, trying to gauge with what was left of his mind, what she thought of him.

He felt a slight tingling, and had he not been completely oblivious, he would have known recognized the sign telling him a woman was channeling. He couldn’t see the weaves, and he couldn’t feel them either, but some part of him knew what she was doing. It hit him suddenly, the wave of chill and he felt his mind begin to come back to him. His eyes focused again, and he became aware of his surroundings. He searched her, and she spoke softly, "I'm sorry, I know I should have asked, but..." What? And it dawned on him, she had healed him. But of what? He ran over what had happened…a panic attack he finally decided. Had he not been about to double over and collapse in a heap, he might have laughed. He of all people, having a panic attack…but she had healed him! He looked confused, and tried to run over in his mind why she would do something like that. Why would she not try to hurt him, let him have a heart attack for what he had done to her?

“Don’t be sorry, you were right to do it.” He said absentmindedly. She was quite talented in healing, like me… He gripped his head, even so soon after healing, his still jumbled thoughts were giving him a headache. He felt quite horrible, the aftereffects of the healing as well as the beginning of the headache. She looked at him, like she wanted him to say something. He was completely silent, offering nothing at all, and immediately opened his mouth to say something. “You must hate me…” He looked away from her. He couldn’t bear to stare her in the face, he was ashamed of himself. What he had thought was the right thing to do so many years ago, seemed to be now, the biggest mistake he had ever made. He had given it up! He had given up on his family again, for the second time! There was no telling he wasn’t going to mess things up again… Light, he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms and beg her to forgive him, but he couldn’t! He tried to say something again, but all that came out was a choked off strangled sound.

He was so weak! He had nearly gone unconscious in front of this woman, this woman who was his daughter. “I…I cannot ever explain to you…” He couldn’t finish the sentence, it was like he was reliving those first few years he had been Asha’man. It was said to be a blessing from the creator if you could channel. It was a CURSE! He cursed the Creator, and did not care whether it would banish him to a life hard ship and horror, he had already lived it! This was his undoing. All that he had pledged himself to, mattered not at all compared to this. Nothing! Light, just let me die, let me die before she can damn my name…Before she can do what I did to her!!

No reprimand came. No shouting, no yelling or anger. “Don’t be sorry, you were right to do it.” He said a bit absent. He wasn't angry with her, she couldn't believe it. One of the things traditional to the tower was to not heal unless permission was granted. It was almost as bad as bonding someone who didn't want it. She slowly looked up at Rialt who looked away with the words “You must hate me…” Cayana blinked in surprise. What...? She didn't hate him. “I…I cannot ever explain to you…” He continued without even finishing the sentence. She was hurt that he hadn't wanted her, but she didn't hate him.

She put a finger over his lips a gesture of asking him not to speak as she answered him. "Why would I heal you if I hated you?" If she had hated him she would have just left him be, she had no reason to even have talked to him if she had actually hated him. Cayana wasn't really the one for revenge. "I don't hate you. Before I got my hands on those books." She gestured to the desk. "I didn't even know that Lord Alhi wasn't my father. " She just shook her head. "I don't hate you, but I can't say I understand why..." She stopped this time. She didn't even dare finishing that sentence. She knew her voice would fail her if she did, she couldn't let him know all her feelings. "I would never had even guessed it was you if you hadn't started to shout at me last night." Admitting this wasn't exactly easy, but she owed him as much as that.

What would happen now? He didn't at all seem as bad as he had a second ago. Perhaps she had over reacted? In her head she just couldn't even think of possibilities to what would happen. Would he want to get to know her? Would he want to be left alone? Light, she hated not knowing anything and feeling as a small child sitting in front of her parent. He was her father, but she was still no child, no matter how much she felt like one. She was Aes Sedai, and far to honest for one if you looked to how Aes Sedai were supposed to act. Aes Sedai are also supposed to leave their past once being raised to Accepted, she reminded herself. Here I am digging into it...

"Perhaps I should have let it be, considering you sent mother away like that." She started to rise, her eyes stuck on the floor like a child feeling like she has been turned away. She really didn't want to just let go, but unless he showed her that he wanted her there, she would let go. He seemed so afraid and she didn't like to make him afraid. He had been a complete stranger yesterday and now she felt as protective of him as if he had been there all her life. It was odd, but she couldn't help it. She didn't even know him. But he was her father, her real father. Nothing could change that. She really didn't feel Aes Sedai at all right now.

She placed a silencing finger over his mouth, one that in any other circumstance would have caused him to slap it away and reprimand her for touching him, but now it served as a bit of a comfort. "Why would I heal you if I hated you?" She did have a point, but anyone who had the ability and witnessed the Mahdi al’Tain having a panic attack on the floor of their office would have moved quickly to help him. Had they not, they could have been called down for his murder, or an attempt on his life. Even if they had not done anything, they would have been held accountable just as surely as if they had slit his throat themselves. That punishment, he recalled vaguely, was one of stilling or gentling. And no one in his or her right mind would risk a fate like that. Plus it had been a question…. questions were an inquiry, not a statement, so they didn’t necessarily have to be the truth. However, he was completely wrong.

“I don't hate you.” Why not? She has every reason and right… “Before I got my hands on those books. I didn't even know that Lord Alhi wasn't my father. " Lord..ah, that must have been who she thought was her father. He had a pained look of understanding on his face, though he was clearly at a loss for words, so she continued. "I don't hate you, but I can't say I understand why..." She trailed off and left it hanging in the air. “Which means that you want to.” He knew exactly what she had meant by it, that last she may not have wanted to say outloud, but he knew, she wanted to hate him for what he had done, but for some reason she could not. “You are like your mother, she could never hate anyone either.” What had made him say that, of all the things he wanted to say to her in this moment? Light, does she even...could she ever…?

"I would never had even guessed it was you if you hadn't started to shout at me last night.” So it had been his fault after all. She looked just like Avelia…strikingly in fact, that it brought back a torrent of memories. She had been happy, all the time, had made Rialt smile when not many other people could. Of course he had a sense of humor, but nothing so great as what she could do to him. She put him in a good mood, that was part of the reason why he spent so much time with her when he could. And now, well...he had dug a hole for himself and only seemed to be burrowing deeper and deeper. "Perhaps I should have let it be, considering you sent mother away like that." The last she said in a cold, even indifferent way that made him want to shrink back into himself. She wants nothing to do with me…

Before, he had given up his child, the second time, he had lied, at least as much as he could at the time, and said that he did not want her. Her inferred it, without saying the actual words. And it had worked. He went to the Mistress of Novices the next morning, after he found out, and told her that he had discovered one of the accepted was with child. It was a dismissal that afternoon, and he had watched as she was brought before the Aes Sedai who informed her that she was to be dismissed from the Tower for breaking one of the fundamental rules. She looked at him like he had betrayed not just her, but the entire world. In that moment, he had pushed all the guilt and emotions that rushed up to the surface at him and had watched with cold eyes and a hard face as she was escorted out of the Tower.

It was like that, again. But he would be burned if he let it happen again! He snatched her wrist when she stood up and spoke, “I don’t want you to leave Cayana. I never wanted you to leave in the first place.” The last was uttered in a small voice, and he let the blanket she had covered him with, drop to the floor as he rose to his full height and towered over her. He had managed at least, to regain some of his composure, but by no means at all, was this done. She would have to tell him now, whether or not she wanted anything to do with him, and all he could do was hope she would say yes. If she said no, he would turn and he would leave, excepting the second biggest mistake in his life.

Rialt was in pain. It was obvious on his face. What kind of pain wasn't easy to tell, not with her own emotions going in every direction at once. As she had told him she didn't hate him he responded. “Which means that you want to.” She did want to understand it yes, but the following sentence made her look at him with confusion. “You are like your mother, she could never hate anyone either.” Cayana could hate, oh yes, but she had never met a person she hated. The only thing she hated were the shadow and it's creatures. She had a will to just go out and fight them, but she wasn't able to, not yet anyway. Though I don't know why I let people step on me like that. If I wanted to I could even travel out of here... But going alone to fight shadowspawn was stupid. Every borderlander knew that.

Just cause she had the ability didn't mean that she would, or could, hate her father. As she rose he grabbed her wrist. Something she hadn't expected him to do. Both warmth and fear shot through her body. “I don’t want you to leave Cayana. I never wanted you to leave in the first place.” She looked straight into his eyes this time. Did he speak the truth? He had to, he just had to. He couldn't lie to her just like that could he? He towered over her as he rose. "Do you really mean it?" She looked up at him, not letting her eyes fall away from his. She was afraid, she had no serenity or control over her feelings right now. That she didn't want to leave was clear. That she didn't want him to go was as well. But she didn't know what to do. A child being confronted by her father, indeed.

She felt like hugging him, but she was afraid he would push her away wether he wanted to get to know her or not. They were grown people after all. But it didn't make the feeling go away. "I.." she felt her voice tremble while she searched for words to let him know what she felt. "I..." I was the wrong word, but she couldn't think about anything but that and "Please don't push me away..." It just came out. In any possible situation she would never have begged like a child, but now she did. She felt week, like her knees wouldn't want to carry her much longer. She had opened her heart to this man, now it wouldn't take much for him to rip it apart. Her voice had trembled as if she would start to cry and she did feel like it. If he did walk away she would know that not even her father wanted her. He never had and never would, no matter who she became. All she was was a big mistake then.

Cayana couldn't think of anything but being that mistake now. Because of her, her mother had gotten thrown out of here, when she had the big chance of becoming Aes Sedai. Because of her, her father had gotten a panic attack that could have killed him had she not known healing. Because of her, her mother had gotten married to a man that pushed her down into her shoes and didn't let her do anything but raise children. One thought among the rest was the words she had just uttered. Please don't push me away... She could feel her heart raising, how she slowly began to tremble in her body as she waited for the answer. Please, father, don't turn me away never to know you... She actually felt it now, him being her father. She would never have thought that, but she did feel it.

She turned to meet his own gaze when he grabbed her wrist. She seemed frightened of something...not of something, of me. But that wasn't surprising...he had that effect on most people, but she she wasn't most people. And he knew, even if she was the Mistress of Novices, she was still a human being, she still had emotions. Even if she kept them locked away in the smallest portion of her mind, behind all of the Aes Sedai serenity, even she could not hide the fear that showed so blatantly on her face. Had Rialt been anyone else, he probably would not have recognized it, but he had seen much in his lifetime, enough to know its mark when it touched a person. You’re hiding even now Rialt…even now you cannot express to her what you want! She is your DAUGHTER you fool! Let go!

He tried, willed every feature in his body, and finally, he felt his muscles loosen, and his hard expression drop. For a moment, he was who he once been. His expression even, was lessened greatly and he didn’t seem to grimace at everything, or in most cases, have a completely empty look, devoid of all expression. He couldn’t be hard with her, he could not treat her like he would any other Aes Sedai or Asha’man, he did not even treat her with as he would perhaps Sidivin or Zekieal, who were his friends. "Do you really mean it?" She said to him, every apprehension strained through her small voice. He reached out, and pushed aside a lock of hair that hung haphazardly in her face and searched for signs of disgust, for any sign of hate or hesitation. She didn’t move away. "I...I…Please don't push me away...” She sounded a little girl, not the hard Aes Sedai he knew she was most of the time. He let his hand drop from her face, light he felt like holding her and never letting go! He wanted to so badly that it actually began to hurt for him to breathe properly.

He shook his head, and closed his eyes for a moment. “I won’t…not ever.” He said the last part as a statement, one that he would never go back on. “I will never, in all of my long years, do what I did again.” He had left himself completely open to anything she might do now...She sounded and looked like she wanted to know him… but he couldn’t be certain, not until she said it. His mind was rampant, everything had happened so fast he barely had time to think before he acted. But now he didn’t care if the entire world fell apart around him, he had his child. Cayana…Light he didn’t even know her last name but he couldn’t bring himself to care! The woman standing before him, was of his blood, had become an Aes Sedai where her mother had been denied. She had even become the Mistress of Novices, and even if she wanted nothing to do with him ever again, he couldn’t help but swell with pride. He might not have been there, or had the raising of her, but she was of his blood, and she had gone through so much, he knew to come to the position he was at this day.

She stood before him, looking a little disheveled and lost. But all the while he couldn’t help but notice the grace in which she held herself, and he thought that even if the world were coming to an end she would retain that beauty and that grace until it all stood in ashes and nothingness. She is so strong… He silently gave a prayer to Avelia, you have done so much better than I ever could have… And she had become more than he ever would have imagined.

As Rialt relaxed Cayana felt a shred of hope light inside. He stroked away that stray bit of hair that had a tendency to fall down in her face. Then he looked at her as if he was searching for something. Words perhaps. Something on her face? “I won’t…not ever.” He said, and the fear was washed away. It was amazing how so much fear could just wash away by so small words. Then he continued “I will never, in all of my long years, do what I did again.” Happiness welled up inside her and she couldn't help what she did. She hugged him softly leaning her head against his chest.

For a little while she just stood there, feeling the moment. Then she started to remember her childhood. The only one to really have hugged her of her parents were her mother. Her father had other things to deal with then a small child. No, he's not my father, Cayana corrected herself. Lord Alhi was never my father, it doesn't matter that I carry his name. Slowly she started to remember who she really was and she blushed before she could calm herself. Light! I just hugged the Mahdi al'Tain! Just cause I felt like it.... A bit embarrassed she let go and took a step back. "I'm sorry, I just... I couldn't help myself. I was just so worried you would push me away..." Looking up at him she just kept herself from actually using the word, but in her mind and in her eyes the thought was clear. Father.

"I'm sorry I caused you a panic before. I didn't mean to." She apologized. Nothing else came to mind, what would they do now? What was she supposed to say? She just looked at him. She wanted to know about his past, to know him as a person. It would take time, a long time. She wondered how badly Kiren would hate her though, after causing such a panic attack. Most likely, Cayana thought to herself. But if she's willing I'll try and make it up to her. Part of knowing her father would be to know his Gaidin. The person he had chosen to share his life with would say a lot about him.

While standing there waiting for a response a sudden knock came at the door. Cayana gave a start. Light, I didn't even ward the room for sound... But she didn't think a novice would dare listen in. Novices caught doing such things regretted it for months if not years. So far she had gotten enough respect for them not to just open doors as well. Who ever it was would stay out there till called for. She would have to wrap this up though. "Perhaps we could get together sometime... to get to know each other." She looked at Rialt. He had said he wouldn't push her away, she just hoped he would have time for it. The Mahdi al'Tain was a busy man. Probably even busier then her, no matter how many novices and accepted decided to be unruly. I can't believe he is really my father... Her eyes glittered with the happiness inside for having found her father and not been turned away.

No sooner than he had spoken him promise to her, did she rush forward and in a flurry she was embracing him. He flinched at first, but when she didn’t pull away from him, he hesitantly put his arms around her. Not for forty years had he embraced anyone like this, it felt almost odd. Rialt held Cayana for a while, not wanting to let go, when she broke away from him. He looked at her with a pang of worry, not knowing if she was angry at him or if she suddenly had changed her mind about everything. She blurted out, “"I'm sorry, I just... I couldn't help myself. I was just so worried you would push me away..." Push her away? Why in the light would I do that?! And then it hit him. She was worried about his title. Granted had that been anyone else he would have had swift words for them and a harsh punishment. But it wasn’t every day that someone randomly hugged him, and he had wanted her to, even. He was glad she had taken the initiative because he never could have willed himself to do so.

“Cayana, don’t ever be afraid to throw off formalities with me. I am not the Seeker of the Black Tower to you, and you are not Aes Sedai to me. I will not have the stiff regard between us that I share with most of the Aes Sedai. I don’t care for it, you are my daughter and I am fit to see that propriety never gets in the way of that again.” Of course everything he said also had a hint of caution behind it. He did not want her to think of him as the Seeker at all really, but he knew that outside of closed doors and in the public eye, they would have to resume their positions within the Tower system. He would be Mahdi and she would be the Mistress of Novices, until such a time when it would come to light that he was her father. And even then, he would be expected to take on his responsibility as Seeker much more seriously than that of being her Father. The Tower had no regard for personal life at times. So behind his words, he thought he had given her a warning about it. If she wanted to announce it, he would not stop her, but he would not do so himself. It was not meant as a slight on her, but rather a precautionary action for a variety of reasons. She could very well be a target because she was his daughter, and he was not about to loose her so soon after having found her.

"I'm sorry I caused you a panic before. I didn't mean to." She spoke to him. “No no, it wasn’t your fault, I couldn’t…I couldn’t deal with it all.” He was a bit embarrassed by that as well, he was supposed to be able to control his every emotion, but all of it had flown right out the window when she had told him. “Light, I feel a right old fool! I should have known better!” He was a bit angry with himself; he could have caused a lot of problems for both of them with his little episode. She didn’t seem to call him down on his reaction though; she was more apologetic and worried than critical of it. For that he couldn’t thank her enough. It was then that a sharp rap was heard on the door to the room, and he looked over, a bit annoyed. These Novices choose the most inopportune times to be sent for punishment. He smiled wryly at his thoughts and turned back to Cayana, who seemed just as perturbed at it as he was.

"Perhaps we could get together sometime... to get to know each other?” That was all that he had wanted since he had found out she was so related to him. He wanted to know everything about her, what had happened when she had lived with her mother, what her childhood had been like, even what had happened to her while she was a Novice and Accepted. Questions sprang to his mind almost instantaneously, but they would have to wait for another time. He wondered in passing if she had anyone, and reserved himself to silence until the time presented itself. He would find out as much as she was willing to answer. “Yes, I would like that very much. I fear some of my duties as Seeker may have to passed over to my Secre..i mean my honor guard.” He caught himself before he completely insulted them, they knew they were his secretaries, but he never called them anything but his Honor Guard. “They do a lot already, so perhaps I’ll just hire someone to take on some of the work. I don’t intend to never be able to see you just because I have paperwork to do.” If that was the case, he would never see anyone.

“I suppose I won’t keep you from your duties.” Before he left, he picked up her hand and kissed the top of it. “You have no idea what you have done for me this day. Stay safe until we speak again. And if you ever have need of anything, all you need do is ask. My door is always open to you.” He straightened and just as she was about to respond, the door to the office flew open and two Novices came hurling in onto the floor. Rialt stared at them and tired to refrain from saying anything, that was her job, and she was probably very good at it, but he couldn’t help it. “Get up off the floor right now, and apologize to the Aes Sedai.” They looked up at him from the floor with looks of complete wonder. To them, he looked a farmer, he knew. They had been fighting, that was why they had fallen in the room. They must be new, no one in their right minds would ever do something so foolish if they were anyone else. They stood up, and one of them sneered at him, “Who are you to tell me what to do!?” He raised his eyebrow at her outburst, she was not a very smart one to act in such a manner in front of the Mistress of Novices.

Rialt embraced the Source, and stuffed a weave of air down her throat to keep her from talking. “I suggest you be mindful of who you speak to girl.” He glanced over at Cayana, who seemed to be fuming at the situation. But she retained her calm and even looked at him a bit annoyed, or at least that’s what it seemed like to him. After all, punishing novices was her job, not his. He released the weave of air, and turned to Cayana. “I apologize, it is not my business interfering with your charges.”

((OOC: I took the liberety to let Rialt leave, it would be appropriate after all.))

For him to tell her to drop formalities around him while in private was a relief, before this she had had no idea how to relate to him properly without annoying him. Cayana didn't have a problem with him doping formality with her, but to drop the formality with him without him saying so wasn't really something she'd consider. Her tongue might slip but never on purpose. To change her relation when going from a private to official setting wasn't a problem really, as Aes Sedai the formalities officially told to never let the initiates know that you were not equals. But in private she could make Aes Sedai crawl at her feet if she saw it a fit punishment. She wouldn't do that if the Aes Sedai wasn't trying to order her around and were much weaker then her. Cayana just couldn't stand those people.

“No no, it wasn’t your fault, I couldn’t…I couldn’t deal with it all. Light, I feel a right old fool! I should have known better!” Cayana could hear that he was angry with himself and she put a hand on his arm to calm him. There was no reason to be angry, she hadn't exactly had he best Aes Seda composure either. "You can't deal with everything." He picked up on her suggestion to get together and get to know each other. She felt happy about that even though he seemed to have to put off some of his duties to deal with it all. I hope he doesn't put of to much of his duties. I would hate go keep him from it.

As he said goodbye he kissed her hand the way he had when he came. It felt an odd gesture from her father, but she appreciated it. "Thank you, you have no idea what you have lifted from my shoulders. Be well..." The door flew open and two novices toppled over each other and fell on the floor. Fury surged through her and she just felt like picking them both up and hurling them into the wall. She didn't though. One of them she recognized well, the girl had been a novice for 5 years now, the other one was new and she hadn't memorized her name yet. If the girl kept up this kind of thing her name would stick fast though.

Cayana was just about to speak when Rialt did. “Get up off the floor right now, and apologize to the Aes Sedai.” Cayana breathed slowly. It was her job. The novices took it as if he was a peasant speaking about manners though and the older one sneered at him as they stood. “Who are you to tell me what to do!?” Had Cayana stood any closer she would have slapped the girl. The fire of her anger burned in her eyes no matter how serene she looked. “I suggest you be mindful of who you speak to girl.” Rialt answered her then turned to Cayana. “I apologize, it is not my business interfering with your charges.”

"I will deal with them. Thank you for your time Mahdi al'Tain, until we meat again?" She smiled at Rialt and nodded as if saying goodbye seeing how both of the novices eyes bulged, mostly for him being the Seeker, but probably partly for seeing what they had when the door had bursted open. It was plain on their faces what went on in their mind. The fear and the words of their thoughts written on their faces. "May the light shine on you," she added before turning her gaze to the girls. "Is that the respect you show the Seeker?" She addressed them and they curtsied so deeply they almost fell on their knees. Ignorant children.

Once Rialt had left and the door closed, she stepped over to the novices and slapped them both. "Never, Ever, speak so disrespectfully to the Mahdi al'Tain or anyone else of the Asha'man or Aes Sedai, do you hear me?" Her voice was not loud only firm and fiery. Neither of them spoke and she wasn't about to let them either. It took a good 15 minuets before she let them both get one word in the air about why they were even there. When they left they had both gotten punishments for their deeds. They would probably be sore for a few days. Cayana left her office after that to take care of the incident at the infirmary they had been sent to report. The older novice would never take the test for Accepted. Cayana was just waiting for her block to get broken. When that was over she would be turned away from training, the girl just didn't have the potential for becoming Aes Sedai. Silly little children... she thought as she walked along the hall. Her skirts swishing with her every step.