The Gathering Storm

The soldiers stepped aside and allowed Silviana to enter. Her red dress had once been fine, but she had not been well treated by Elaida's confinement. Her black hair—normally kept in a bun—was instead coarsely braided. Her dress was rumpled, the knees dirty. And yet her square face was serene.

Surprisingly, she knelt before Egwene after walking across the room. Egwene lowered her hand and let the woman kiss her ring.

The Sitters watched, confused that Egwene had broken the ceremony. "Mother," Yukiri finally asked. "Is this the best time to be dispensing judgment?"

Egwene withdrew her hand from the kneeling Silviana and looked directly at Yukiri, then turned her gaze across the waiting Sitters. "You all bear a great deal of shame," she said.

Stiff-faced Aes Sedai raised eyebrows and opened eyes wider. They seemed angry. They had no right! Their anger was nothing beside hers.

"This," Egwene said, gesturing toward the broken wall. "You bear responsibility for this." She pointed at Silviana, still kneeling. "You bear responsibility for this. You bear responsibility for the way our sisters regard one another in the halls, and you bear responsibility for letting the Tower remain so long in division. Many of you bear responsibility for that division on the first place!

"You are a disgrace. The White Tower—the pride of the Light, the power for stability and truth since the Age of Legends—has nearly been shattered because of you."

Eyes bugged out, and a few women choked in shock. "Elaida—" one began.

"Elaida was a madwoman, and you all know it!" Egwene said sternly, standing tall, staring them down. "You knew it these last few months as she worked unwittingly to destroy us. Light, many of you probably knew it when you raised her in the first place!

"There have been foolish Amyrlins before, but none have come as close to tearing down the entire Tower! You are a check upon the Amyr-lin. You are to keep her from doing things like this! You allowed her to disband an entire Ajah? What were you thinking} How is it that you allowed the Tower to fall so far? And when the Dragon Reborn himself walks the land, no less!

"You should have removed Elaida the moment you heard of her disastrous attempt to confine Rand al'Thor. You should have removed her when you saw how her bickering and pettiness was turning Ajahs against one another. And you should certainly have removed her when she refused to do what was needed to bring the Tower together again, whole as one!"

Egwene looked down the lines of sisters, staring at each one in turn, meeting each set of eyes until they looked away. None dared hold her gaze for long. Finally, she saw shame begin to peek through their masks. As well it should!

"None of you would stand up to her," Egwene spat. "You dare call yourself the Hall of the Tower? You who were cowed? You who were too frightened to do what was needed? You who were too caught up in your own squabbles and politicking to see what was needed?"

Egwene looked down at Silviana. "Only one woman in this room was willing to stand up for what she knew to be right. Only one woman dared defy Elaida, and she accepted the price of doing so. And you think I brought this woman here to exact vengeance on her? Are you really so blinded that you think I'd punish the only person in the entire Tower who did anything of decency these last few months?"

They were all looking down, now. Even Saerin wouldn't meet her eyes.

Silviana looked up at her.

"You did your duty, Silviana," Egwene said. "And you did it well. Rise."

The woman stood. She looked haggard, eyes puffy from lack of sleep, and Egwene suspected she was having trouble standing. Had anyone seen to bringing her food or water during the chaos of the last few days?

"Silviana," Egwene said, "a new Amyrlin has been raised. And, it shames me to say, it was done with subterfuge similar to Elaida's raising. Of the seven Ajahs, only five were represented. The Blue I know would support me, were they here. But the Red were not even given a chance to voice their dissent or approval."

"There are good reasons for that, Mother," Silviana said.

"That may be true," Egwene said, "but it all but ensures that my reign will be marked with tension between myself and the Red. They will perceive ill will where there is none, and I will lose the strength of hundreds of women. Women that will be sorely needed."

"I ... don't see any way around that, Mother," Silviana said, honestly.

"I do," Egwene said. "Silviana Brehon, I would have you as my Keeper of the Chronicles. Let it not be said that I spurned the Red."

Silviana blinked in surprise. There were a few gasps from the Sitters, though Egwene did not mark whose they were.

She stared Silviana in the eyes. Just a short time ago, this woman had had Egwene over the side of the desk, paddling her at Elaida's command. But Silviana now knelt; she had done so without needing an order. She accepted the Hall's authority to raise Egwene. Did she accept Egwene herself?

Egwene's offer would place her on a difficult and dangerous road. The Reds might see it as a betrayal. What would Silviana's response be? Egwene blessed the trick that kept her from sweating, otherwise she knew that drops would have been trickling down the sides of her face.

eremony proceeded, each of the Sitters stripping to the waist to prove she was a woman. Egwene did the same, and barely gave a blush at the thought of Gawyn, who had clearly thought she should bring him along to the event.

"Who stands for this woman?" Saerin asked after the sitters had redressed. Egwene had to remain stripped to the waist for now, and the cool breeze through the broken wall was chill on her skin. "And pledges for her, heart for heart, soul for soul, life for life?"

Yukiri, Seaine and Suana stood quickly. "I so pledge," each of them announced.

The first time Egwene had experienced this ceremony, she had been in shock. At each step, she'd been terrified she'd make an error. Worse, she'd been terrified that it would all turn out to be a ruse or a mistake.