Shaya felt like screaming; not only had she been reduced to some kind of "slave" to these arrogant and haughty Aes Sedai, but also she had to work in the kitchens like some common scullery maid!
Shaya did not think herself too good to do manual labour, she had done far more worse things in her life, but it was just the fact that she was made to do these things all because she was supposed to have some bloody "spark". It chafed her pride to no end that she suddenly found herself obeying, when she had been pretty much her own master and had been living a grand life up until then. Only weeks ago she had been wearing the finest gowns, covered in the most expensive jewelry and drinking the best of the best and now she was up to her elbows in greasy, soapy water, cleaning dishes at the most ungodly hour, all so everything would be ready for someone's blasted breakfast.

Shaya wiped her mouth as the smell of the soap brought back a vivid memory of the first time she had talked back to the Blue that had brought her here. She had been warned to watch her language, to which she had promptly spat out a few more, just to show the woman she would not cower before her. For the next couple of weeks she could taste nothing but the taste of that one particular bar of vile soap that she had been force-fed with a weave of the power. Still.. even though she kept denying to have anything to do with this so-called "Power", there were times when she could swear she saw a faint glow around the Blue when she channelled.
Her thoughts were interrupted when a splash of water sloshed over the tub and wet the front of her dress. Shaya cursed heartfelt and nearly flung a plate across the kitchen in anger.
"I swear this hellhole will see the end of me before they beat me into submission." She growled the words under her breath and wiped off a bit of foam from her nose with the back of her hand.

Eithne wandered into the Kitchens, wondering where under the Light her breakfast was; it had never been so late before. She woke at dawn, and for close to sixty years her breakfast had sat piping hot outside her door for her. Today she had opened the door with a smile on her face, expecting an inviting meal after last night's meeting -- last night's flaming meeting! -- and there was nothing! It was bad enough that she had to accept these bloody unfeeling Aes Sedai as her sisters, that her life was an act on a stage, but after last night all the long-ago hate came boiling back in her veins. Thanks to a sister's dispassion, her husband had died. Her daughter had died. Minda, dead! Minda's eyes still haunted her dreams, her laugh echoing in her ears; Minda's smile, Minda running towards her with flowers in her arms and hair. She would see every one of these cold witches dead if she could! She would pull down the flaming Tower brick by brick, and the only way to do that was to join the Black Ajah.

She had never truly walked in the Light from the start, and this merely cemented her proper admission into the Shadow. Last night's meeting had been a flaming pit of vipers. The old Head had been summoned, summoned to the Pit of Doom, and news had arrived that she was dead. Whether through her own carelessness or by the Great Lord's hand, she was dead, and a new Head was needed. While a Head was being decided on, the Supreme Council voted her to be the interim Head of the Black Ajah, because as Spymistress, she already knew who all the members of the Black were, the only one other than the Head to do so. They did not want to risk the names of the all of the members of the Black with anyone else, and said that the 'transition' had to be 'peaceful'. As if any transition had ever been peaceful! As if sisters had not died for another to be Head! She knew what they were planning; they wanted a puppet Head, an Accepted to hold the responsibility; they had already mentioned her name many times during that meeting, and the ones before that, even. Burn them all! Why should I be saddled with the flaming responsibility? She did not like responsibility, not after she could not fulfill the simple task of keeping her family alive. If I had struggled harder... She shoved the thought away.

Her eyes adjusted, and she realized that she had been staring at a novice, who was giving her the most impertinent, defiant glare she had ever seen. She felt like flaring out at the bloody child. A simple task, washing the dishes! She's holding the whole kitchen up! Even as she watched, the child flung a dish at the suds of the basin and scrubbed it so vigorously she was surprised not to see the plate crack in her fingers. And she was surprised for another thing, too. The child had not quailed under an Aes Sedai's gaze. Spirit. We need spirit, in my Ajah. Spirit is something I can mould, and any backbone can be thrust into the forge and remade. Still, it did not lessen her fury. Memories are not pleasant things!

"Child, breaking any of those plates would warrant a visit to Cayana Sedai's study, if that impudent stare hasn't, already," she said mildly, with a smile to take the sting out of the words. She was one of the most accomplished actresses in the Tower. That much she knew. Eithne Fayre was well-known in the novice and Accepted quarters as a shoulder to cry on, and it was a good cover, along with her reputation as a slightly confused Brown sister. There is a reason why I rose high in my own Ajah and the Brown, though, she thought; thirst for revenge had given her ambition she never had before. Yes, a good cover; no one had ever suspected her allegiance. "I would not like to see any of the girls switched. Cayana has a heavy hand, despite her beauty." She smiled again, fighting the rage down, locking it away. "I am Eithne Sedai. Of the Brown." As if the inkspots hadn't labelled her that already. "And you are...?"

((OOC: I know you like reading bios before you RP, like I do, but I'm afraid mine isn't quite done yet. :look))

(ooc: That's fine @ bio, its mainly so I know what the other person looks like ;) I'm glad to have such a wonderfully long reply!! ^^)

Shaya nearly yelped and jumped as the Aes Sedai's voice broke her concentration and she silently chided herself for being caught unaware like that. The plate she was holding fell back into the tub with a loud splash as Shaya smoothly arranged her expression to a semblance of meekness and obedience.
The Aes Sedai regarded her calmly and Shaya felt another flash of anger. They were just everywhere, watching her every move and always ready to call her down for so much as not breathing the right way. She hid the anger in her eyes by gracefully dipping into a low curtsy, spreading the skirts of the novice dress with the same elegance as if she were wearing a ballgown.

At least she still had her pride. She could play these social games with the best of them and she was used to adepting quickly to any new situation. When she rose from her curtsy, she had her emotions perfectly under control and she made sure her voice was completely neutral when she answered the Aes Sedai's question.
"My name is Shaya, Aes Sedai." For some reason she had to resist the urge to start babbling, voluntarily offering all sorts of information she had not been asked for and resolutely clamped her jaws shut. She quickly studied the Aes Sedai from under her lashes and decided that this one at least didn't look like she chewed rocks for breakfast. There was an inviting and warm quality about her, which she thought a lot of people would find appealing. She filed the information away and offered her most charming smile, making sure she kept her eyes downcast.
She fought when the battle was worth winning, but if it was not, she could play the obedient little novice with the best of them. No point in attracting too much unwanted attention, she would just sit out her time till she could escape and that was all there was to it.

The mistress of Novice had made it very clear what happened to runaway novices and Shaya realised she would only ever have one shot at it, so she would patiently plan till the time was right and she was absolutely sure of success.

Eithne had to quell an eyebrow that wanted to rise. The moment the novice noticed her the expression had slid to one of serenity and meekness, obedience that the weakest novice could be proud of. The curtsy the novice -- Shaya, her name was Shaya; she filed that away -- dipped into was graceful and slow, a full spreading of skirts as if she were at court. Perhaps a noble; that would explain the anger. No noblewoman enjoyed being dragged to the Tower and subjected to being a novice. She herself had not enjoyed it; being a novice at thirty-one, however short a period of time, was not pleasant when you had to drop curtsies for women slightly more than half your age.

Shaya offered a lovely smile, and she had to marvel at the beauty of the girl; she looked vaguely like a Borderlander -- that would explain the tilted eyes and the fairness of skin, the delicate cheekbones angled on her face. Perfect ivory complexion, black ringlets of hair that fell beneath her shoulders, and green eyes that she could widen to an amazing semblance of innocence. Very pretty. Pretty enough to, mayhap, be quite a spoilt child. And that smoothness in which she had changed her expression; the temper reined in as if she had never been, and if she had been raised amidst Daes Dae'mar, as the child of a House -- as much as the Borderlanders denied any semblance of the Great Game, it did exist, if in dribs and drabs. She would make a very good servant of the Great Lord. That curtsy had been graceful, and even the way her hands scrubbed nimbly at the plates spoke of deftness. Yes; she would make a good sister one day, but she could better serve in the Shadow.

Yet there was no Friend of the Dark scent wavering from her, something that Eithne instinctively knew -- her bones were seeped in the Shadow-- and recently her dreams had not been disturbing, save for the usual screams that she knew were Minda's. There was no summons for the girl to be part of her Ajah. But that could change. Anything could change. She would see the Tower go up in flames.

"Welcome to the Tower, then," she said with a warm smile. "I suppose you are from Saldaea, or from one of the Borderlands, at any rate. Was your journey here smooth?" She considered lacing the words with her feeble ability with Compulsion, just to learn more, but that was a foolish thing to do. There were novices and Accepted in the kitchens, women trained to understand weaves and how to form them, and she would not let the precious knowledge of that forgotten art go. Furthermore they would babble to a Aes Sedai what they had seen, even if they could not recognize a weave, and killing a child was something she did not want to arrange; far too bothersome. She could ask more after Shaya in Cayana's study. Perhaps, with some luck, Shaya would join the Brown, though she seemed more of a Green or a Blue, and she could be... guided... by promises of immortality and power. Eithne herself only half-believed those promises. All she wanted was her revenge, a slow fire burning in her veins.

((OOC: *is Annela* :look I guess Shaya walks in the Light? *sighs*))

(OOC: I knew that :look *waves to Annela* At this moment Shaya is a blank page.. she can go eiter way depending on her experiences in the Tower!*

The woman was perceptive, she had to give her that much. Very few still noticed any Saldean in her, even though it was still there to see for whoever looked closely. Shaya adjusted her opinion of the woman, she was not nearly as unfocused as she appeared at first glance.
Still, it would be hard to avoid the direct question asked of her. The truth was that Shaya had left Saldea at the first oppertunity and she had never been back there, partly afraid of her father finding her and partly because she did not want to find out he had never looked for her.
Shaya had very thoroughly severed all ties to her background and family and there were days when she could almost believe herself that she had grown up the daughter of a wealthy, but minor, house in Andor. That was the story she had always stuck to when pressed for her background and so she opened her mouth to tell the Aes Sedai just that. Something in her eyes made her stop and rethink though, somehow she knew she would not be able to pass the lie with this woman, no matter how smooth she delivered her story.
"I left Saldea when I was very young, Aes Sedai, I remember very little of it." She stopped and considered carefully how to phrase the second part of her answer. Her journey to the Tower had been anything but smooth, the Blue had put her through hell and truth be told, she had tried to return the favor as much as she could. All her skills were simply no match for the Power though and her every attack had been stopped as easy as holding a kitten. Her only satisfaction had lain in causing the Aes Sedai to loose some sleep over her, until she caught on to her intent and simply left her gagged and bound with the power for the night.

It almost seemed as if the Blue had enjoyed the mental battle between them, but for Shaya it was a fight for freedom. By now she was slowly starting to accept that she would be here for a while, at least until she found a foolproof way to escape.
She realised the Aes Sedai was still waiting for an answer and formulating her words carefully she said: "The journey to the Tower was as smooth as was to be expected, Aes Sedai." It took some effort to supress the grimace on her face and she was not sure she succeeded completely. Glancing at the tub of washwater that stood cooling fast, she asked: "Is there anything I can do for you Aes Sedai?" She assumed the woman had not come down to have a chat with a novice, not at this time in the morning and at this point in the conversation Shaya thought it might be good to steer the topic in another direction.

((OOC: Ooh! Ooh! Possible Black! *chains Shaya to her*))

Eithne had always been a very, very good reader of faces; any self-respecting member of her Ajah was so. You did not survive in the White Tower for very long if you walked in the Shadow and was careless about it. The Red Shen was a thorn in her ankle for that purpose; she had not ferreted out a single pair who did not walk in the Light, nor did she manage to work her Healing-Compulsion weaves on them, and the Shen kept secrets she would give her right foot to learn. Irritation ghosted across her face, but she replaced it quickly with the warm understanding most novices fell for. Most. Somehow she sensed that Shaya would not. And though her answer was smooth, there was a very tiny pause before that no one would have noticed if they were not looking for it. "I left Saldea when I was very young, Aes Sedai, I remember very little of it." Very tiny indeed. And an answer worthy of an Aes Sedai. Her accent was fluid, and Eithne could not place it; there was almost no accent colouring her words, or perhaps it was a mixture of most.

The novice paused again, green eyes unmoving and calm and unreadable. The words were smooth, but plainly well-considered. "The journey to the Tower was as smooth as was to be expected, Aes Sedai." Yes; another cryptic answer. Smooth as to be expected. She could see this girl flourish in the Councils of the Black. She could teach her so much more than what the Tower so feebly offered. The child was groomed already in the art of deception and answers that offered nothing, and all she needed was lessons in the One Power and perhaps a bit of strengthening of backbone -- everyone needed a strengthening of backbone when you left the shelter of the Light, frail shelter as that was -- but this Shaya would do very well, indeed.

"Is there anything I can do for you Aes Sedai?"

She started as if forgetting something. "Oh! Oh, yes. You're doing your dishes. I'm sorry for bothering you, child," she said absentmindedly; Aes Sedai did not apologize to novices, but perhaps this would help in her cover. Shaya was merely a child and they were already stepping a delicate dance. "I should go now. No; there is nothing you can accomplish for me except to be a little gentler with the dishes and saving yourself from a reprimand. Perhaps we could talk later." Other sisters made it a command, but hers was a suggestion, and she wandered away as if forgetting why she was here in the first place. Before she did, though, she embraced the Source, and weaved Air and Fire to reheat the washwater, and out of the corner of her eye she watched for Shaya's reaction, wondering just how far the child had gone in the True Source, if her skin tingled or she saw the weave or the glow around the plump Brown sister. Who had brought her to the Tower and who was mentoring her now could easily be checked, and Eithne could not afford to seem as if she were playing favourites, and too long a conversation in public could seem like that. Oh, yes; a very delicate dance, indeed.

(ooc: arrghh.. I really need to learn to proof -read what I write.. Sorry about the mistakes in my previous post. Apparantly I'm not as good at multitasking my work with posting as I alway pride myself on :P Love the sig btw, very classy!!)

Shaya raised a puzzled eyebrow as the Aes Sedai actually apologised? But then the woman had already turned and it was obvious that the novice was the last thing on her mind. That's what Shaya thought, until the Aes Sedai appeared to go.. almost fuzzy for a second and a few seconds later Shaya was sure she could see damp rising from the tub of dishes. The Aes Sedai left her even more confused than she was before. At least one thing was certain: you could never know what to expect from these women. Since she had been here, she had had tongue lashings from Aes Sedai who looked too sweet to hurt a fly and compliments from those who looked like they could chew a brick without flinching, but the same was true the other way round as well. If anything it helped to keep her guard up, it was too easy to fall into the trap of trusting someone when you were all alone and strange to a new place.

Shaya new she would have to expect some of them to try and befriend her, if even for the sake of keeping her in line while they got out what they needed from her. She still didn't quite understood what was in it for them. Why should they care if she had the spark and killed herself with it?
She'd think they'd be glad to get rid of the competition, but then maybe she was worth more if they could brainwash her into fighting for "their" cause. Shaya smirked as she returned to the dishes. A quick look at the sun outside told her she had already wasted too much time, she would be late serving for serving out the breakfast in the main hall now.
"No use crying over spilled milk," she sighed and as she quickly finished the rest of the dishes and dried her hands on a nearby cloth. Putting on a face she would hope would make her invisible, she went into the main mess hall and got ready to serve the breakfast.