Sapphira made her way through the Tower halls, and stopped a passing novice, "Do you know where I might find Marenla Sedai, child?" she asked. The novice curtsied nervously and pointed back the way she had come from, "I believe she is in her rooms, Mother," she said, then scurried quickly on. Sapphira nodded and continued on toward the Yellow halls. She needed to speak to Marenla about something Sapphira had recently learned about a possible plague in Tear. Sapphira nodded at curtsying Aes Sedai she pssed, no doubt they wondered what she was doing in the Yellow halls, was she ill? Rumors would likely be flying within moments. Sapphira stopped at the room she knew was Marenla's and knocked Long ago she had lost the habit of waiting for permission, and so pushed the door open. Marenla was not in her main room, and Sapphira chose not to look through the woman's apartments. "Daughter?" she called, being called daughter would let her know that it was Sapphira in her rooms, and bring her out. Sapphira waited afwe moments, and when the Yellow sister did not appear, Sapphira pushed the door to her bedroom open. Marenla was lying in her bet, apparently asleep, but in the middle of the afternoon?

Sapphira stepped over to the bed and pulled the blanket back. There were no weaves evident, but it was quite clear that the woman no longer lived. Sapphira had some abilities in Delving, thanks to her Talent for Healing, and she quickly embraced the Source and laid the weavie into MarenlaNot even spark of life, no wounds either, and no sign of poison nor suffocation. She must have been killed with the Power. A man or a woman? Sapphira thought calmly. She had seen enough Darkfriend work not to be surprised, even in the Tower. Sapphira set a ward around the roomthat would alert her if anything within it moved, and set another about the body to let her know if anyone touched it. She stepped out of the room, wishing momentarily that she was as good at inverting as Zekieal, as it was she inverted the one around the body, it was the simpler of the two, but possibly the more important. Unless a woman had seen her weave it, they would not know it was there.

Sapphira made her way out of the White Tower, copmletely normal to all eyes, though mentally she was going over all the questions she knew were necessary. She had had years of practice in this, one death was not enough to ruffle her feathers. She stopped a novice, the second in fifteen minutes. "Do you knoew a novice about this tall," she held a hand a few inches above her head, "with blue eyes and dark hair? Perhaps here two years by her actions," she asked, that girl would need to be questioned. "That sounds like Amela, or Jerelen, Mother," the girl replied. "Fine, have them both sent to my office, tell them to wait until I arrive, I have something that must be taken care of first." Sapphira made her way into the Black Tower and up to Zekieal's office, he needed to be informed, and years of working with him made her sure that he should be informed very soon. She had not expected something like this after her raising, she was not Red anymore, this was not in her job description. Even so, she felt herself slipping into thatmode,there was no nervousness, only knowledge of what must be done. She opened the door to Zekieal's antechamber and noted that Rialt was missing,where was he, she wondered. She put that out of her mindand knocked on Zekieal's door. This was one place she hadto wait at, but Sapphira did not, not this time.

Zekieal was sitting athis desk, looking up from his paperwork, he would know it was her before she entered, thanks to his door, but said nothing when he saw her. He knewher well enough to know when something was wrong. "An Aes Sedai of the Yellow was killed," she said simply. "The murderer used the Power, she was far too young to have died naturally, only about eighty years, and there was no trace of any other method." There was almost no emotion, she was upset that her daughter was dead, but there were more important matters, finding the murderer being the main one. Sapphira calmly took one of the room's chairs, waiting for Zekieal's reaction.

(OOC: Btw, Zekieal agreed to let me play him just a bit there, so that I could tell him about the sister in the first post)

Zekieal looked blandly across his desk at his newly acquired alter ego. It was difficult not to feel a bit insecure when he was talking to himself, and getting a response, that he hadnt orchestrated. a completely seperate concious, another entity, but still him at the same time. How he loathed this man...himself...and at the same time, he found him easy to talk to, and very reliable.

Light blast you but it makes sense that he is reliable! He is you you oaf, you fool!!!! He thought. But the man was so different...so...unlike him...that he couldnt help but see him as an individual. one that only he could see mind you, but as an entity nonetheless. A scary thing, but one that had to be addressed. at the moment, he discussed with himself, the topic of sharing the body. The Gleeman Zekieal, who had agreed to being called al'Kith, sat in one of his chairs comfortable, his leg draped lazily over an arm. Whereas Zekieal sat with his back deep in his chair, his hands on the armrests. The argument was pleasant, no raised voices, but still it was arduous.

al'Kith wanted to have access to his body. he didnt want to wage a war with Zekieal, he didnt want to have to fight for the right to be a full human. so al'Kith wanted to agree on times when he could masquerade around as himself. At first, Zekieal had been reluctant...More like stunned and appalled He thought bemusedly. Share his body with this man? Who knows where he could wake up, or what the man would do? He could get Zekieal infested with a disease, get him mugged, or publically humiliated.

But al'Kith was smart. al'Kith knew how to tickle Zekieal's fancy, and how to make a good deal. He had agreed immediately, no sex. Both Zekieal and al'Kith were somber about that topic, and they touched it quickly and left it even faster. The next topic, the one that was still in debate, was stealth. all'Kith wanted to be a gleeman out of the tower, Zekieal didnt want to be recognized. Zekieal knew how to suppress and hide his ability to channel, as did al'Kith, But al'Kith could make up for that more then enough by drawing attention to himself, a thought that struck fear into Zekieal's very core. He had a reputation as a prankster amongst the soldier's when he wasnt drilling them, which he had found, was due to al'Kith's manipulations and pushing. Not a bad thing considering the end result was a better like M'hael, but still a shocker.

Opening his mouth to continue the debate, he felt the familiar flash of heat and flare of red, and gave the crystal on his desk a sideways glance. nodding at his alter ego, he looked down at his paper's and pretended to be busy, looking up to see Sapphira enter. She had in her eyes a familiar look. A look that Novices would wilt under, accepted would cringe from, and Aes Sedai would turn their heads from. A bland, dry, and rational look. It was the look of business. His alter ego, still in view of Zekieal's mind eye, looked at her up and down, an obvious look of attraction, and Zekieal mentally berrated him. al'Kith only looked at him, smiled wolfishly, and winked out of existence.

"An Aes Sedai of the Yellow was killed," she said simply. "The murderer used the Power, she was far too young to have died naturally, only about eighty years, and there was no trace of any other method." There was almost no emotion.

Zekieal nodded. "I have faith you have that situation under control, and no rumors shall leek from the yellow quarters. As far as the murder goes though, only a fool placed the blame on anything other then one of the Dark's colleagues. I will speak with Mishael on this subject. But what signifigance did she play in the tower? was she important to the yellows? did you know her personally? Was she of the Black Ajah, and slain because she had been ratted on, or perhaps she had found a me-"

the sound of an eruption bellowed below his office, down only a few stairs, and Zekieal could feel it (ooc: in his toes ^^ ) was caused by saidin. a strong surge of it rippled through the air, and he thought he felt the familiar tingle of Saidar. Wasting no time, Zekieal nodded to Sapphira, the seriousness on her face unchanged, and they rushed from his office, Sapphira hoisting her skirts well above her knees, as they rushed down the stairs. as he passed floors, Zekieal already believed that he knew their destination.

The Ter'angreal store.

Sapphira waited while Zekieal went through the traditional questions, going through her mind for the answers she had already made. Before he finished, though, Sapphira felt an explosion of saidar, very strongly, somewhere below. Zekieal said nothing, but stood and walked quickly out of his office. Sapphira pulled her skirts much higher than was proper, and followed after him quickly. Apparently there had been saidin used, a little tingle on Zekieal's skin would not send him rushing off somewhere, he probably would not have even noticed, he did live in the Tower after all. Sapphira was quite sure she knew where they were headed, the explosion had come from the direction of the ter'angreal stores. Sapphira noticed several of the people they passed eyeing her, the men almost appreciatively, and the women scornfully. Sapphira wished she were taller, with longer legs, keeping up with the taller man would be so much easier that way. For the most part, when the people saw who they were looking at they looked away, but twice Sapphira went so far as to flick a soldier with Air, and teach him a lesson. She commited a few Aes Sedai faces to memory, they knew who she was, and had certainly felt the Power being used, where else might she be heading? If any of them got into trouble, Sapphria promised herself she would not go easy on them. Finally, Zekieal slowed down when they reached the hall in which Sapphira knew that in which they would find out what happened. Or at least some of it.

Sapphira walked just behind Zekieal down the hall, but only because the length of her legs made following easier than leading, or keeping up. When they reached the part of the hall they were headed to, Sapphira was beyond doubt that they were there. There were no saidar residues, apparently whoever this was was Talented at Inverting. She wondered whether there were any from saidin, but did not expect it, why Invert half, and leave the rest visible? There were ter'angreal strewn across the hall, with nothing in common, neither use nor shape. The door to the storage room was gone, only a small pile of ash, and melted metal remaining, apparently the theifs did not want to bother with the lock, not a lot of Talent with Earth then. There was soot everywhere, and footprints left behind in it, one clue at least. The most shocking thing to be seen, though, was an Asha'man- or part of one -lying on the ground. He had a whole in his abdomen, a very large hole, the wound already cauterized. He was quite obviously not living, but Sapphira bent over and wove Delving anyway, to try for a clue at what happened. Before she took ahold of his head, she noticed the colors on his arm, proclaiming him Aman Val. She settled the weaves into him, and found nothing. "Blood and ashes, the second time today!" she said under her breath. She stood and turned to Zekieal, then realized that he was the m'Hael. He would be much more touched by the death of an Asha'man than she, Sapphira statistically knew the tragedy, but Zekieal might know the man personally, and if he had any significance, Zekieal would know. Sapphira did not think it would be bad though, she had not been too upset by the death of the Yellow, at least not personally.

"Who was he? Why was he down here now, wouldn't one of the Dieb Cha be more fitting? Was it a set up?" she asked calmly, and waited for Zekieal's answers to these questions before she asked any more. We need to find Rialt and Lyla, I wish Lyla had told me where she was going, but surely Rialt is here somewhere, she thought, it was only logical. She did not keep tabs on the man, but certainly the Keeper and the Seeker would try to keep from being out of the Tower at the same time. Sapphria suddenly remembered the Yellow sister, and the ward she had set around the room. Even with it, she could not keep anyone out, sooner or later someone was bound to discover it, to knock on the door or some such thing. She pushed that to the corner of her mind, but not completely out, she did not want to forget about it again. The ward would let her know if anyone moved within, or into the room, but even so she could not afford to forget about the death of a sister. She wondered again where Lyla might be, the woman might be visiting her home, but the Light knew she had no family left alive, so that was unlikely, where else might she be? Everyone needed a break now and then, and Lyla did a lot, she was just having a break, and Sapphira envied her, but also wished she would have picked any other day to take off. Sapphira had not bothered to ask where she would be, Lyla had taken vacations before and all had been fine, Sapphira could handle the Tower on her own for a few days. She would be able to take care of this, but Lyla needed to know, and her Blue point of view would be more than helpful. Light, but she was never going to let the woman out of the Tower again!

Zekieal surveyed the ruined store of the Ter’angreal, slowly and systematically taking in each and every detail. The lack of blood from the body, how the footprints in the doors remains were pointed, the sizes and shapes of the footprints. The plethora of angreal and Ter’angreal left untouched and those that had been hastily knocked aside, and forgotten. Overturned boxes and shelves, the different Tools of Power scattered amongst the debris of the door. His eyes traveled over the light carpeting of ash on the floor, how it was distributed on the ground, and how some of the ash seemed only just settling on the angreal and Ter'angreal. The wound in the body was at a perfect height with the holes in the walls directly across from the room. Each hole was a perfect circle in line with the last. But, the back wall of the Store was unmarred, perfectly unblemished as the day it had been installed. Zekieal frowned and, sighing deeply, allowed himself to see his newly acquired alter ego. al'kith "appeared," bowing with exaggerated reverence towards Zekieal, and walked into the scene. Zekieal himself could not enter the crime scene, for fear of molesting the evidence, but al'kith, who could stir no dust nor harm the footprints, walked with abandon. he matched his feet with each footprint, slowly following each track to its end. he mumbled to himself, and Zekieal repeated it, his eyes studying al'kith's movements.

"Three men came in, caught the Aman Val off guard. Men were wearing the Asha'man outfit...look at the tread of the footprints. Each sole is the same as my own. Guard, under the assumption they were everyday Asha’man, guard suspects nothing...then they lash out, subduing the man, but not killing him yet...They rummage through the shelves, looking for something...more heavily on the right side then the left. The right side was where we stored the unknown Ter’angreal..." He trailed off, clearly displeased with whatever the conclusion of that story was. Something just was amiss....

Why destroy the door? they had been wearing an Asha'man outfit, and would have had the trust of the Aman Val. What Ter'angreal had caught their fancy? Zekieal weighed and considered potential answers, but none seemed to fit the situation. al'Kith was slowly tracing his hands over the dust and ash covered shelves. He stopped dead in his tracks, looking straight down. "Delve exactly in front of me. just poke around till you find it." The man looked back and winked, and Zekieal grimaced. The man found humor in all situations despite how dire they were. Siezing Saidin, zekieal slowly, with infiinite patience and care, moved his weave of Delving through the room, giving each statue a wide berth. If one were to react to the power, he had no doubt in his mind that he would regret it.

With the utmost care, he moved the delving weave to where he saw the fragment of himself stand, and methodically delved the entire floor, searching each stone panel, the hair on the back of Zekieal's neck stood on end. In a perfectly straight line across the floor, was a hair-thin slice in the ground. imperceptible by the human eye, but underteh scrutiny of a channeler, it was unmistakable. it was a very shallow slice in the stone, but enough for Zekieal. Spinning around, Zekieal began to give orders to the Silent array of Asha'man that had gathered, each waiting for the M'hael to reach a verdict. Walking through their group, he randomly gave orders, not caring who did them, or how they did it, but they just had to do it. Zekieal did not look to see if Sapphira had followed.

"Find all records on who was assigned guard duty in the Angreal store. I want every record of the last three years. Get some of the Dieb Cha in here to clean up. I want the entire Black tower shut down. nobody leaves, and nobody enters, without my express permission." He began to descend the stairs, three at a time, Pushing past tower servants and and Asha'man alike. Rialt was absent, the Light blast him, and the entire Black Tower was aware of a major flow of power in the upper floors. Even the bloody soldier's would realize it was the power they had fealt...thank the light that the fools had actually inverted the weaves....

Sapphira stood, looking over the scene with Zekieal, wondering what the man was thinking, but that was the least of her thoughts. Suddenly, Zekieal burst into a flurry of action, he barked orders at some Asha'man Sapphira had hardly noticed standing there, and made off away from the store rooms. Sapphira had no choice but to follow him, and this time was if anything even more difficult than the last. Her legs were much shorter than his, he could take the stairs three at a time, but Sapphira was confined to one. She cursed under her breath and paused. "Zekieal!" she said in the tone she would have used on two Aes Sedai who had gotten into a fistfight. When he stopped and turned to look at her, she continued on. "Running off through the Tower, and injuring all of the Asha'man will not serve any positive purpose. And apparently too many years of sitting in that office have caused you to forget that I cannot maneuver stairways as quickly as you, especially in these cursed dresses. So, unless you intend to do all of this on your own, I suggest you slow to a sane speed. Thirty seconds may make all the difference in the world, but whoever it was is already gone, if there is any way for us to find them, a few extra moments will not stop us." She waited a moment, just to irk him, and caught up to him. She noted that he did slow a bit for her. Many years ago, Sapphira would not have admitted a problem if she had been miles behind. However, the intense training of the years as Accepted, and early Aes Sedai had ground that out of her. She was of no use to anyone if she refused to accept help.

Sapphira followed him through the Tower, and out into the grounds. She had no idea where they were going, and was slightly perplexed. She had thought that Zekieal would want to tell his Seeker first, and the man was usually to be found in the antechamber to the M'hael's study. She followed him just the same, were Lyla in the Tower, Sapphira would have already told her, but the woman was out for a few days. Again Sapphira wondered what sort of sense of humor the Creator had to send the Keeper to some unknown location at the worst of possible times. She followed the M'hael through the winter-covered scene of the Tower grounds. It was a beautiful view, and had Sapphira not had so much else on her mind, she probably would have slowed to enjoy it. But that was not the case, and stopping never crossed her mind, Zekieal was still going more quickly than Sapphira would have liked, but at least now she could keep up with him. She still wondered where he was going, what could the man be doing out here, rather than telling Rialt what was going on. Of course, there was always the chance that the idiotic man was taking a break. Zekieal kept a tight enough reign on his men, that he probably knew where the man was at all times. What a waste of effort, keeping tabs on that man. Even so, she had to respect the fact that he was the Seeker, and as such, Zekieal should inform him first and foremost.

As Zekieal walked he began to speak. "When one bonds themself to another, what exactly is it that compels them I ask? Is it...love? Respect? A need to feel like you are never alone? Or perhaps its just out of neccesity, that to further gain renown and power in the public eye, the two agree to bond. Others do it because it is expected of them, due to the Shen or Ajah they follow. Take a Green, for instance. Greens bond multiple warders so that when they go to battle they have plenty of strong arms to defend them as they weave destruction securely in the middle of her sentinels. There are other uses for the men with these women, I have no doubt of that, but it is often unheard of for a green to go without a warder, perhaps even two. All Ajahs bond for some reason or another, so there is a limitless reason for the Aes Sedai to bond. But what of men? What of the Black Tower? Warders are predominantly males, and I have no doubt in my mind that discourages many of the asha'man right away. second, is their pompous ego, so full of themselves. Even we channelers have a reason to feel jealous towards others. The Warders are strong, filled with life, and women swoon after them in the practice yards. Jealousy is another thing that would dissuade a man from bonding with another man. thirdly, no man would willingly admit that they need protection. To say that they did, would show a frailty in them, or something of that sort. No man wishes to be percieved weak. So, when an Asha'man bonds a warder, there is a reason above all others that stands out. Especially, I believe, in the case of our dear friend Rialt Erydinian that factor is Trust. Rialt is a depressing man. He lost his wife, a human of no real signifigance, how does not matter, but the death left him an empty man. A hollow shell of a man. Now though, he seems to have easily mending the loss of a bed partner" Zekieal spat the last part out, clearly disgusted "But trust...he had a difficult time finding a woman that he could trust in, and express himself to when in sorrow. So when he finds that woman he can trust in Kiren Thym, Wolfkin and Warder, and she trusts him, or whatever she may feel, they bond. Their relationship isn't based on love, or to expand their renown, but on a level of trust and respect. With this in mind, I intend to find the Wolfkin, and have her show us where her confidante is..."
although his words appeared to be meant for Sapphira's ears, Zekieal had in reality, been ranting to his alter ego. The man, at least from Zekieal's eyes, lazily strolled beside him, somehow keeping pace at a strolling gait. The man had a face of slight concern, but overall, he hada cheery disposition, as usual. Zekieal felt his blood boil each time he looked at the illusion.
Light....I am crazy...I am getting upset at a figment of my imagination.

Zekieal's feet took him to the practice yard. Grabbing the nearest Gaidin-in-training, he beckoned the young trainee to fetch Kiren. As teh boy ran off, Zekieal began to murmur to himself under his breath, his words inaudible to those around him.

(next post shall be in practice yard)