[pfsb] investigations and explorations

[blue_ajah]

Two days after Moiraine brought Wei Wuxian's talismans back to Twin Peaks, after she has taken the time necessary to review all of her notes as well as the histories she has been collecting, she calls Dale Cooper, who is still in Olympia, now, rather than Seattle.

All things considered, the conversation could have gone much, much worse.

She is well aware that they are going to have a much longer discussion after he returns in a few weeks, but he had agreed not to ask her to wait. She, in turn, had agreed, as before, not to go to Glastonbury Grove alone, or at night. She also agrees not to approach the pool closer than necessary to place the talismans, or to test it with her own weaving - not at present, anyway.

Hawk had been her next call.

A few days later, after he has had time to consider and to consult with the Bookhouse Boys, Hawk knocks on her apartment door and agrees to her request.

* * * * * * *
When Moiraine returns to Milliways, she leaves a sealed note with Bar, addressed to Wei Wuxian.

Master Wei--

I made the trial of your talismans according to your instructions. When I activated the one at the northernmost point, glowing red energy swept inward from the circle in a wave focused on the pool at its center.

The pool absorbed it all. It vanished into the depths without a ripple, and without a trace.

Nothing else has happened. Yet.

--Moiraine Sedai

That task completed, she settles at her preferred table with tea and begins sketching something in a notebook.

Comments

[we_bring_hell]

"'For a moment you went where I cannot follow'," she says soberly. "But she was proud."

[blue_ajah]

"I see."

She taps a forefinger against the table and absently tests the texture of its surface as she thinks.

"Secrets and salt water, you said. Is that why, then, if there is no other salt water on the Ninth?"

[we_bring_hell]

"I believe it must be," she says. "The tradition was my mother's, and I am certain she did not know the origin, but it is the only thing that makes sense."

"She maintained a salt water baptismal font we used when we discussed my origins or anything else that she considered a secret of the Reverend Family."

"She was Novenarius, descended from Samael Novenary, who served Anastasia the First; two hundredth Nova- in her line. It may have been passed down from those who remembered when the Rock was laid down."

[blue_ajah]

"I have heard," she says, slowly, "through this place, of traditions and spells that rely heavily on herbs and other ingredients."

She can almost see the look that Nynaeve Sedai would have given her, immediately prior to launching into a lecture about the importance of tools beyond power to accomplish desired goals.

(Nynaeve had been right, and the world saved because of it.)

"Salt is often used in them for purification and protection, and in some cases to encircle as a barrier."

[we_bring_hell]

"I was not aware of that," she says. "Very possible, then."

[blue_ajah]

"Indeed."

The Aes Sedai sits silently for a second, thinking, then meets Harrow's gaze with her own.

"There are examples from my own birth world of those who were imprisoned because of the danger they carried, who would have seen the world destroyed. There are also examples of those whose return was awaited, for the saving of the world; and whose foretold return brought destruction and salvation both. I cannot tell you which she will be, but I will help you to find out."

And then, once the answer is known, a path will likely become clear.

[we_bring_hell]

She nods, and her face is troubled. Torn. "What all accounts agree on is that she is an enemy of the Emperor. Certainly now, if not before he imprisoned her."

"If she kills him, Dominicus will be snuffed out and the Houses will die. I do not desire that. I pray she sleeps a long, long time. But I--" She swallows.

I am her creature.

"I cannot hate her. Perhaps there is a death appointed for us all, even God."

[blue_ajah]

"All things are part of the Pattern," she murmurs.

[we_bring_hell]

For the first time, Harrow begins to understands the manifold ways in which Moiraine uses that phrase.

In this case: How God takes, and takes, and takes.

"I confess I have dreaded this confession," she says. "It has not gone as... as I imagined."

[blue_ajah]

A small, wry smile curves her lips.

"I have been known to surprise people, from time to time."

The Aes Sedai regards her thoughtfully for a moment, then adds,

"Of course, there is much in my own past that informs the present moment. Someday, perhaps, I will tell you more of it, should you be interested."

[we_bring_hell]

She inclines her head. "I would be honored. I would also be glad to learn more about how you mastered the art of composure, some time."

"Did you have more questions you wished to ask?"

[blue_ajah]

"It was part of my training in the White Tower," she says. "I would be glad to share certain techniques with you."

"I do not think there is a need to ask additional questions at present. There will be, in the future, I believe. Between now and then we may consider various possibilities."

She gestures gracefully at the wards around them.

"Shall I remove these, then?"

[we_bring_hell]

She nods. "Thank you for honoring my mother's superstition. I... Even before their deaths, I was a symbol to them of their moral nadir. We were never close, and after seven years of... it is hard to remember them as they were."

"But they were my parents once, and it is... a small thing."

[blue_ajah]

"I understand," Moiraine says. "It is difficult, when one's family is less than one might desire, but the connections can still matter. Sometimes more than they might otherwise."

She embraces saidar and unties the ward's weave, allowing it to dissipate, then releases her connection to the True Source.

[we_bring_hell]

She slides the portal weave diagram into her journal. "I think I will retire for now," she says. "I have taken a great deal of your time, and I think we both have much to consider."

She rises, and a long beat passes; Harrow can hear every beat of her rotten necromancer's heart, measuring the time out slowly. "I wish you," she stumbles, "every good thing. Until we meet again."

[blue_ajah]

“And I you,” Moiraine tells her.

“May you walk ever in Light, Harrow. Until we meet again.”