Sapphira suppressed a sigh as she walked away from the Hall, Light, but it was a trying week. Not only had she been informed less than twenty-four hours ago that a Sitter for the Green was dead, but now during this emergency session of the Hall, the Mistress of Novices had announced that she wished to resign from her position. She gave only vague reasons, but what could Sapphira do? She could not command the woman to continue in a post she did not wish to. Cayana was young, Sapphira had to admit that, much as she hated thinking about age, but surely she had her own ideas about what was important. She had only worn the shawl a few years before becoming Mistress of Novices, and Sapphira supposed the Green sister felt it was time for her to do her own bidding, rather than take care of the novices and Accepted all the time. Sapphira wondered what had happened to Arya, the Green Sitter who was now dead, the Light knew there were plenty of dangers anyone could face, being Aes Sedai only made them more common and placed a whole batch of extra dangers on a woman's plate. In honor of the death of a Green sister, Sapphira wore a green silk dress with white ribbons for mourning tied in her hair and on each arm. She did the same any time she found out about the death of a sister, most people did not. Of course, all the Greens were in mourning, but there were many sisters who saved mourning for when someone they knew or someone in their Ajah died. Or the Amyrlin, of course, that always brought full mourning from everyone, whatever Ajah they were actually a part of. Mourning when a sister died was something Sapphira had started soon after being raised, to make the Aes Sedai feel more comfortable with a formerly Red Amyrlin, and she had never stopped the tradition.
She made her way up to her study, nodded to Edrin, the woman who had replaced Lyla as Keeper and who had somehow made it back up here much quickly than Sapphira, and walked through. She sat down at her desk and resisted the urge to put her head in her hands. Light, who would she get as a new Mistress of Novices? She had never thought to have to replace Cayana, especially not this soon, as it was quite uncommon for a woman to actually resign from a post. But there was no use in dwelling on that, was there? No, she could not change the past by wishing it were different, but she could not deny that she wished it had not happened. Cayana had been a very good Mistress of Novices, she was fair and just, and kept the initiates in line. She had not kept Sapphira out of all the doings of the initiates, as she knew some women did. Doubtless Cayana had seen the initiates as hers, every Mistress of Novices did as far as Sapphira knew, but she had not guarded them so jealously that Sapphira was unable to have a word in what happened to them now and then. How could she replace Cayana? She had grown used to the way the woman functioned, and she liked it. Truth be told, she liked it far more than she had the previous Mistress of Novices, the woman she had appointed when she was first raised to Amyrlin. There was nothing wrong with her, Sapphira had never noticed anything until she had an opportunity to compare with the way Cayana ran her office.
Sapphira forced herself to stop thinking along those lines. She needed to look to the future, not the past. The past was done, she had to choose someone as the new Mistress of Novices who would do good things for the initiates and the Tower as a whole. And she did not have long to decide, the Hall would expect to hear of her choice soon. They had intimated that they would even be willing to re-convene today if she could manage such. And that was exactly what Sapphira planned to do, choose quickly, but wisely. She began to go through sisters in her mind, there were several likely women who she thought of right away. Almost every Ajah had someone worthy of the task, but she could not concider any Reds, since the Master of Soldiers position was not open, and was not hers to give even if it had been. She decided that a White sister would be too cold for the position of Mistress of Novices, and although she had to be stern, the job also entailed being a shoulder to cry on. A Yellow might be too compassionate, anyway, any sister who might be conciderable for the job would be. A Blue would be just and fair, as would a Green, a Gray would make a natural choice as well, Sapphira thought. What about the Brown? Although they had a reputation toward dreamyness, there were certainly sisters who would suit. As she thought about it, a face appeared in Sapphira's mind. A newer sister, she had worn the shawl a few years though, long enough to feel comfortable in her position as Aes Sedai. She had been out of the Towers for a while, Sapphira thought, but she had returned- Sapphira remembered passing the woman in a hall only a day or two ago.
Yes, she would suit nicely, the more Sapphira thought about it, the more certain she was. She had met the woman rarely, but everything she knew about her spoke of her being a good choice. A young Brown sister, Kathera Galwyn, Andoran but even shorter than Sapphira, oddly enough. Sapphira glanced at her clock, it said that nearly two hours had passed since the Hall let out. Sapphira was rather shocked, she had not believed she had sat here contemplating for that long, it seemed to her it had only taken a few minutes. At the same time, she was surprised that she had been able to come to a decision that quickly, one she was absolutely certain about, surely this deserved more thought than that. She did not move just yet, she again went through the list of likely sisters, mentally crossing out names as she thought of good reasons they could not be Mistress of Novices, and again she came up with Kathera as her best choice. Well, the Light be thanked that she had come up with a name so quickly, there was no point in putting it off any longer than it had to be. She rose from behind her desk and walked out into the antechamber. She paused a moment, Edrin was still busily at work in the antechamber, but looked up as Sapphira entered. "I've made my decision, it's time for another Sitting," she said simply. Edrin nodded and stood, it was her duty to call the Sitting, and announce Sapphira as she entered, so Sapphira knew she had several minutes before she actually needed to leave her study. She watched Edrin leave the room, and stood still, thinking of exactly how she would make her announcement, it would have to be fairly straightforward, she knew, but she also knew that it had to be done in such a way that she would get enough votes from the Hall to have Kathera approved.
She made her way to the Hall after a few moments, and as she turned a corner, saw three sisters making their way in. A moment later, she saw Edrin exit the chamber, and look down the hall at Sapphira. She nodded, "Everyone's here, Mother," was all she said before turning around and going back inside. Sapphira stood just outside the door until she heard Edrin finish her announcement of the Amyrlin's presence before striding into the room. She made her way up to the Amyrlin Seat, but did not sit. "Good afternoon, Daughters," she began. "Since I am sure you all have far better things to do today, I won't keep you long. I have made my decision as to who I want to name as the new Mistress of Novices." Of course, they all knew that already, why else would they be here, but Sapphira knew she had to say it regardless. Not a face changed, though doubtless at least a few of these Sitters were surprised that she had already made a decision, she may lose votes just for that, but what could she do? They had said they wanted to know quickly, so that was what Sapphira had done. "After giving it much thought, I have decided that the Brown sister Kathera Galwyn would be the best choice for the position." Simple as that, she could not ask for the Hall to vote yet, first she had to wait for the inevitable rebuttals by sisters who had their own ideas as to who it should be, or at the very least why it should not be whoever Sapphira picked. She did notice, however, that the Browns looked quite interested. Yes, they would stay on task during this session, if it meant a possibility of putting one of their sisters into such a position.
Sapphira was quite surprised, then, when a Brown stood up right away, and was more surprised when she did not commend Sapphira's decision. "Mother," she began with a respectful nod, "I am sure you are aware that Kathera has just returned from a long absence." Sapphira only nodded, yes, she knew that quite well. "Well, Mother, her absence was unannounced, not a Brown knew that she was going to leave, she simply disappeared." Well, it's a sister's own perogative to leave when she wants to, so long as she doesn't make a habit of it as Mistress of Novices. The woman was not finished yet though, "She left many duties, despite how short a time she has worn the shawl, the Browns had found many responsibilities for her, and had quite a time redistributing them once we determined that her absence would be a long one." Sapphira nodded as the woman sat, it was a good point, she had to admit, but if the Brown Ajah had seen fit to give her so many duties so soon after her raising, then doubtless she was an able-minded woman, every possible choice was some sort of risk, so far Sapphira had not heard enough to change her mind. And apparently she was not alone, another Brown sister stood immediately. "Mother, I concur with your decision of Kathera Galwyn. She is an intelligent, motivated young woman, and I assure you she had reason to leave the Towers. The important thing is that she came back, and faced what she had brought upon herself. She has also informed us that she is quite reformed of her desire to travel." Sapphira thought over this as the woman sat. "Thank you, Daughters," was all she said.
Everything those two women said had to be true, unless they were Darkfriends, a possibility Sapphira chose not to contemplate just now. No, she would take them at their word, true, they could spin truth like a top, that was beside the point. At least what the second woman had said was quite straightforward, and it certainly assuaged many of Sapphira's own doubts. Sapphira waited while a Gray sister rose, saying that she thought Kathera was too young, and even going so far as to offer her own idea as to who should be Mistress of Novices- a Gray, of course. In all fairness, the woman she had suggested would be quite capable, Sapphira even told the Hall that she had been concidered for the position, and gave a plausible reason for choosing Kathera instead. She got a few quick nods, and had to listen to only three more comments before a Blue sister rose and made an announcement Sapphira did not expect or hope to hear quite yet. "Sisters, Mother, we all know Kathera, and we all know what sort of job she can do as Mistress of Novices, I move that we vote now." There were several nods of agreement, and the vote was announced. Immediately, enough women rose to approve Sapphira's proposal. Sapphira allowed herself a small smile and thanked the Sitters before dismissing the Hall and exiting when everyone but Edrin was out of the room. She nodded to herself as she walked out of the large, circular room. It had been a trying week, yes, but she had gotten something done. Now all that was left was for Kathera to officially accept the position, but Sapphira had no doubts that she would, it was very, very rare for a sister to directly dismiss something decided upon by the Hall.