This is a fanfic set in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time setting. The setting and any characters that are not original characters are fully the property of Robert Jordan, his widow (Harriet Rigby), his estate, his posthumous co-author/successor (Brandon Sanderson), and his publishers. At the end of each chapter will be posted a guide to how to pronounce terms and names.

The Violet Ajah
by Edeyn Hannah Blackeney
Prologue

The Prince was not truly bothered by the weight upon him, it simply was not all that difficult for him to handle. No, anyone that saw him could tell he enjoyed the comparative life of leisure he led. After all, he spent more than half of his time in the stables, and while they were not the grand stables that were at the palace in the city center there were many of the beggars of Cairhien that would have gladly lifted each mouthful of food to his lips for him just for the chance to stand in those stables for a short while. He walked along the familiar road, this time taking along with him the Lady of the House. She seemed to enjoy the unaccustomed outing, as well.

His head held high and drawing each breath of crisp morning air easily into his powerful lungs and her relaxed manner as they moved along the road, would cause any observers to assume these two together every such morning. Not true, however, as he had made the monthly trip both directions on the road at least 100 times since she last accompanied him.

There was no talking, the two traveled in as near silence as possible. Footfalls accompanied by the morning sounds of insects, birds, and small animals in the grasslands around them. She smiled to herself, even allowing herself to close her eyes along the straight portions of the road. She decided that she simply MUST get out more often in the future, whether this trip turned out to be successful or not. She wondered not for the first time -- or even just the hundredth time during the trip -- why she did not travel more often.

The city was looming before them after an uneventfully beautiful, nearly serene, trip and their pace slightly quickened as the guard waved at the pair in greeting. He looked as though he wanted to doff his cap, but realized he was wearing a helmet just in time to avoid the faux pas. Instead, an affable grin split his features as he held his hand up to stop them and do his duty to check all those entering Aringill through the North Gate.

"Ho there, Aes Sedai, what brings you to honor Aringill with a visit?" he began the semi-formal, semi-familiar formula.

She arched an eyebrow at the man, and while her face betrayed her distaste as much as it betrayed her years -- which is to say, not at all -- he realized that her gaze was never going to be friendly.

The Prince stood silently.

After a moment more, the Aes Sedai stepped to the ground and quietly murmured to the guard, "Find me a guide, a woman, and return quickly. I care not for status, only for gender."

The startled man found himself attempting a ridiculous synthesis of both saluting and bowing at the same time. Her frown deepened into a scowl as she watched the man fumble further and begin to apologize.

The Prince stood passively.

"Idiot," she interrupted him, "go now. Find my guide."

As he turned and fled, nearly breaking into a run, she threw a sneer at the young man's back.

"That is why I don't travel more. I recall now."

She turned as she reached in a pocket hidden in the folds of her deep red traveling dress, withdrawing a small bag. A moment to slip the knotwork loose, and it opened into a flat cloth, carrying thumb-sized bits of carrot. The Prince nickered and she fed him one, smiling tenderly.

***If only human men were as obedient and silent as The Prince,*** she thought wistfully.

She continued to treat her loyal steed until the guard returned, breathless, with a girl of about eleven years following behind him.

Immediately the girl lowered herself into a curtsy, "I have been informed that you are in need of a guide, milady Aes Sedai. I would ask that honour be mine."

***That is what a greeting should be like,*** she responded within her own mind.

She replied with a gracious smile, and aloud she said, "Of course, dear, you will do nicely. We will discuss payment when we have been settled into our inn."

*       *       *
E'nalla waited patiently. Maybe the Aes Sedai was here for á†lina? Likely. She would just have to find a way to warn á†lina and the others, then. She noticed the Aes Sedai turning to her, and centered her attention on the woman.

"Now, girl, I shall be in Aringill for perhaps a week, maybe more if warranted. I am willing to pay you a silver mark per day to serve as my guide during my stay. Is that satisfactory?"

"Oh, yes, milady! That would be quite generous. Where shall I take you first?"

"Please, my name is Aranessa. As I am an Aes Sedai, you may call me Aranessa Sedai," she told the girl quite warmly, and with a smile. So polite, this child!

"Yes, Aranessa Sedai. Where shall I take you first?"

"There must be somewhere in this city that has healers, whether they be real or charlatans. Take me there after I have changed from my traveling clothes."

"Yes, Aranessa Sedai. I shall await you in the common room," was the immediate reply as the girl spun on her heel to depart.

"A moment. What is your name, child? I can hardly go about calling you 'girl' the entire week, now can I?"

"Oh, pardon my rudeness, Aranessa Sedai. My name is E'nalla Harthik, daughter of the Seamstress Ciir."

***Oh, this child knows her way around information,*** thought Aranessa, ***she knew to only give the maternal lineage. I do hope she develops the ability to Channel. She would be an asset to the Red Ajah.***

She changed out of her traveling cloak and dress, into a slightly lighter dress coupled with a gauzy wrap she had received from a Domani trader. The heat of the Summer was upon the land, after all. She made her way down the hall, and descended to ground level, where she found E'nalla waiting attentively by the fireplace. The girl stood and walked across to hold the door for Aranessa so that the Aes Sedai need not even pause to continue out to the street.

Without a word, only a glance to assure herself that her employer was watching and would follow, E'nalla turned and headed through the streets of Aringill.

There were turns and twists and to Aranessa, it seemed a fine-looking city.

Eventually, the girl stopped at a door, but hesitated before opening it. She turned and walked the few steps back to the Aes Sedai to speak.

"Aranessa Sedai. Perhaps it would be better if I were to see how many are inside, first? I would not wish you to have to chance becoming ill due to such exposure."

***How sweet of her to worry for me,*** thought Aranessa.

Aloud, she said, "That is unnecessary. I am not royalty, after all, and I must see the women of this town with the potential to become Aes Sedai."

"Oh! You wish to...? I apologize. I did not realize you were on a recruiting visit. Let me get the door for you."

The girl positively scurried over to hold open the door, and with a smile and a flourish almost worthy of a gleeman, gestured Aranessa inside.

*       *       *
"E'nalla. We have been at this searching and seeking for a solid week. I'm tired. You have more than earned your pay, so I'm staying in this afternoon. Don't worry, you will be paid anyway," she smiled to take the sting out of the words.

"Yes, Aranessa Sedai. I shall return tomorrow, then."

She waited for the girl to go, and then began a weave around herself that would essentially make her invisible. Not really, but very difficult to look directly at. It was similar to the weave on the cloth of Warders cloaks, actually.

She slipped out the door and down the stairs quickly enough to follow E'nalla out onto the street only steps behind. She had begun to suspect that her guide was hiding something from her. It was natural, but a bit upsetting, in such a promising young girl. She followed her to an area of the city they had yet to visit. Not proof, as it could still be on the agenda, but not absolution by any means, either.

This was a very... unkempt... area, actually. She followed as E'nalla slipped down an alleyway and into one of the empty areas in the middle of the organized streetfront blocks. It was a perfect 'clubhouse' for young children. She stood to the side in the shadows and listened.

"á†lina? Are you here?" asked E'nalla.

"No," came a voice from behind the crates that had been painstakingly stacked in a corner of the hidden area, "I'm in Caemlyn. Of course I'm here. What'd you find out?"

"She is really a nice woman, á†lina, you should go with her to the White Tower. I promise you, she wouldn't hurt you."

A scoff from the crates.

Aranessa allowed herself a smile of triumph. A new Novice for the Tower. Perhaps even young enough not to have too much of a resistance to removing her block. This is good news.

"Really, á†lina, I mean it. Aranessa Sedai has been nothing but nice to me, and you'd have a home... a real home for the first time since your mother tossed you out."

"Don't remind me. Adults are selfish and not trustworthy. I'm fine without any stinking White Tower. And you promised not to tell her."

***So, she's not deceiving me just to be deceiving me. She's made a promise. Can't fault the child for that.***

"I haven't! But really, I think you can trust her. She's given me enough already that mama wouldn't have to work for a month."

"But what about the others? The boys depend on me to make sure that nothing happens. I like being the one people look up to! Well. You know what I mean."

E'nalla stifled a giggle. "Look up to. Right."

"Hey, no teasing!" said á†lina, stepping from behind the crates to face E'nalla. The other girl was perhaps ten -- maybe eleven -- years old.

Before Aranessa could help herself, she gasped in shock.

***The youngest Novice I have even heard about was fifteen years! This girl hasn't even started her menses yet!***

E'nalla looked right at her, but didn't see her, due to her weave-cloak.

"What?" asked á†lina, before craning around the bigger girl to see what she was looking at.

"Too late!" she shouted the next instant, her eyes fixed on Aranessa.

Letting the weave unravel, Aranessa cursed internally at herself. The child saw her weave, and knew she was there.

"Come, á†lina, I will not allow anyone to hurt you. Life at the Tower is wond--"

á†lina quickly pulled a weave from Fire and Spirit that Aranessa had never seen and suddenly there was a bright flash. Both E'nalla and the Aes Sedai shrieked in pain even as the running feet of á†lina could be heard sprinting down one of the alleyways.

"I'm sorry, Aranessa Sedai, but she made me promise! I didn't mean to --"

"It's alright, E'nalla, but you have to help me find her! A girl that young that can Channel can become one of the greatest --"

"We won't find her."

That brought Aranessa up short.

"What?"

"We won't find her, Aranessa Sedai."

"Well, you can't be sure of that, we have to look all over, her boltholes, the places that she --"

"You don't understand. By now, she's out of the city."

"What? How do you know?"

"The direction she ran, there is a hole in the City Wall. She's by now already out in the woods."

"But this is bordering right on the Haddon Mirk. The girl would be insane to --"

"Insane or desperate. The others she looks after mean everything to her. She's younger than them all, but they do look up to her."

"Well, show me where they are. Surely she'll come back to them..."

E'nalla was already shaking her head.

"They will not come together even for me without á†lina giving the say so."

Frustrated, Aranessa scowled and stormed back up the alleyway she had come by.

"Well, come on then, we're going into the Mirk!"

---

Pronunciation Guide (Arranged Alphabetically)

	á†lina		el-EEN-ah		A very young girl that can Channel and use the One Power.
	Aes Sedai		EYE   seh-DYE		The female users of the One Power, who tap into the feminine half, Saidar, to "weave" magic into spells.
	Aiel (Wastes)		EEL		The vast desert to the east of Cairhien.
	Ajah		ah-ZHAH		The different schools of thought of application of use of the One Power by the Aes Sedai are grouped into Ajahs, who identify themselves by a color, and are represented among other Aes Sedai by wearing a shawl of the color of the Ajah to which one belongs.
	Andor		ANN-dor		Country south and west of Cairhien.
	Aranessa Fovall		ahr-ah-NESS-uh   FOH-vawl		Featured Aes Sedai of the Prologue, Red Ajah member.
	Aringill		AIR-in-gihl		A city in neither country of Cairhien nor Andor on the road between the cities of Caemlyn and Cairhien.
	Caemlyn		KAYM-lihn		Capitol City of Andor.
	Cairhein		kye-REE-ihn		A country and with a capitol city of the same name in the northeast, bordering on the Aiel Wastes.
	Ciir Harthik		kih-EER   HAW-tihk		Seamstress in Aringill, E'nalla's mother.
	E'nalla Harthik		ee-NAHL-ah   HAW-tihk		Aranessa's guide in Aringill.
	gleeman		GLEE-man		The Wheel of Time equivalent to a Bard or minstrel.
	Saidar		sye-DAHR		The feminine half of the One Power.
	Saidin		sye-DIHN		The masculine half of the One Power.
	Sedai		seh-DYE		Term of respect appended to the name of an Aes Sedai.