"Thank the Light our work is done here. It's hight time we headed back to the White Tower. I doubt our presence will be tolerated much longer." The dark looks and muttered grumblings from passing Soldiers raised the hairs on the back of her neck. Gangorn's hand rested negligently on the hilt of his sword, his steely blue eyes belying his casual appearance.Yes....more than time we left this place. They crossed the outer courtyard to an area well away from any chance passersby and Kithra prepared to open herself to the sweet flow of Saidar.
"Kithra Sedai! A moment!" At the sound of her name, she turned, a slight frown creasing her features, her annoyance at the delay evident. Her first patient of the day hurried to her, a Dedicated close on his heels debating whether to remain or fetch the Master of the Tower. He seemed about to do the latter until a glance a the stern faces of the two facing Dahn changed his mind. Giving them room to talk, he remained near enough should Dahn need his assistance.
Annoyance rapidly turned to shock, then disbelief as Dahn related the events leading up to his discovery of the Taint's absence. This was unheard of!! No man had ever been cured of the Taint. The deep seated dread of the madness and it's subsequent actions had ensured that very few men were ever healed from being severed. Rarely would any Aes Sedai, not even the Browns with their thirst for knowledge, risk such a healing nor bear the responsibility for the subsequent results. Only the Keeper's order, couched as a request, combined with the depth of his worry for his friend and bondmate could have swayed Kithra into embarking on such a perilous venture in the first place. Now this man before was claiming that the Taint had been eradicted from him!
Shaking her head, her hands gripping the shawl at her shoulders, Kithra voiced her thoughts. "How can you be sure? The Taint has been an integral part of Saidin since the Times of Madness. Nowhere has it ever been even remotely rumored that such a thing could be feasible. Even the merest whisper of this would have been found if such a possibility existed."
Dahn's elation could not so easily be marred. "It is gone Kithra Sedai. Twice now have I embraced the Power, and neither time did I feel the bleak presence of the Taint. Was it just the healing or the combination of my healing and Dekahda's, I do not know, but that it is gone I would wager my life."
Times are changing so rapidly. An Aes Sedai at the Black Tower, linking with a powerful male channeler and this revelation. Something doesn't sit right in all this..there's a piece of this pattern still shrouded in shadow... Now more than ever Kithra wished to be back at the White Tower. Regardless of Dahn's assurances, a vague memory fanned the flames of doubt in her mind. "You may regret such a wager. The possibilities it opens before us are endless, but even certainties are sometimes shown to be illusions when examined closely. There are some documents and manuscripts I need to review, but I will return, should the Master of this Tower allow it." Opening herself to the Power, Kithra opened a gateway behind her, only barely registering the look which passed between the Gaidin and the Dedicated as the latter started forward when he sensed the presence of Saidar. Quickly passing through, the Gaidin backing up behind her, she released the flows and hitched her skirts.
"Gangorn, please notify the Tamyrlin of what has occurred. I will speak to him later, but I mustgo to the archives. Some fact eludes me and I need to unearth it before my actions of this day unleash forces we may not be equipped to handle."
"I will speak with the Tamyrlin directly Aes Sedai. I will rejoin you in the archives. If you must return to the lion's den you will not go alone. More than ever you might be in need of someone to watch your back."
Before she could respond, Gangorn headed off to find Serian, his easy lope devouring the distance easily. Wether she agreed or not, it seemed they would see this thing through together. As Kithra hurried towards the library and its archives, she realized with a start that she was coming to depend on this tall quiet man.
Throughout the long night and into the early hours before dawn, candles had guttered out and been replaced, a Novice quietly entering and exiting, glancing curiously at the woman seated in the library. Oblivious to the activity around her, reddish hair almost obscuring her face, Kithra pored over the ancient yellowed parchament before her. Books, maps and rolled up manuscripts lay strewn across the table haphazardly, testimony to long hours of research. She'd painstakingly read every word ever recorded concerning severing and Saidin with no success until a few barely legible words, the ink so faded by time as to make them appear like smudges, had directed her to these writings.
Tiredly pushing her hair back, the color drained from her face as she sat back. "Blood and ashes!! What have I done?!" The dread that had crouched in the back of her mind all night had been released full force as the full import of the words she'd reread over and over again sank in. Only twice before had a strong male channeler been healed from severing, in the early days of the Times of Madness. The circumstances surrounding the event were buried and might never come to light, but one thing was painfully clear. Both had gone fatally and totally mad within weeks of being healed. Vague references were made about a frantic attempt to halt it's progression using a tel'angreal whose description fit only one thing.....the Arches.
The woman sleeping peacefully on the small cot never felt the gentle probe as Kithra assured herself that Dekahda's healing was indeed complete. Her strength is remarkable. There is not even the slighest remnant of her ordeal physically. I hope the Creator is as kind with her memories. The Aes Sedai could only imagine what horrors the woman must have endured while touched so deeply by the Shadow. An involuntary shudder passed through her before she regained her composure and glided across the room and out the door. Her self appointed guardian, the Gaidin Gangorn, his watchful gaze still surveying the hall from end to end, fell into step beside her. The earlier tnesion had been somewhat dispersed during dinner that evening, but his demeanor still resembled that of a wolf on unfamiliar territory, wary and poised to strike. Kithra herself would be glad to get back to the White Tower. The presence of so many male channelers constantly brought back the memory of her contact with Saidin, and the sickening thread of Taint which had woven it's way through to her. Even now her mind recoiled from the echoes of it's touch.
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