Armina Terrac

[Armina Terrac]

Name: Armina Terrac

Age: 40



Nationality: Shienarian

Place of Birth: Shienar

Place of Residence: White Tower

Affiliation: White Tower/Green Ajah

Rank/Title: Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah



One Power Strength: 7

Air: 7 | Earth: 6 | Fire: 9 | Spirit: 6 | Water: 7



Date they were raised to Novice/Soldier: 93 FA

Date they were raised to Accepted/Dedicated: 98 FA

Date they were raised to Aes Sedai/Asha'man: 104 FA

Date they were raised to any other rank: N/A



Talents: None

Weave Affinities:


Weapon Skills:

Martial: 3| Hand-Held: 4 | Stave: 2 | Thrown: 0 | Ranged: 0 | Mounted: 4

APPEARANCE

Height: 5'8"

Weight: 150 lbs

Build/Complexion: Normal/fair

Eye/Hair Color: Green/Dirty Red



Distinguishing Features:

• N/A

Armina stands at about average height for women from Shienar, with a build that could be described as "average"  likes to let her hair hang loose around her face, growing it a little past shoulder length. She refuses to ever wear it up, though she will occasionally tie it back if she needs to practice something, but otherwise prefers to leave it hanging around her freely. Her skin is lightly tanned from spending time outdoors, though this only really applies to her hands and face, as the rest of her remains nearly completely covered. When walking outside of tower grounds she will carry a sword beside her, but often prefers not to wear a blade on the grounds, ruffling too many feathers it would seem.

Armina prefers simple, dark colored clothes when traveling or staying at the tower. They are simple and often easy to have cut, something she prefers in case the whim to travel somewhere to do something takes her fancy. In addition she found they were the simplest to clean when necessary, as it was almost impossible to get a set in dirt stain out of a bright color, where as a darker color could more easily hide it. She will often wear a high neckline on her dresses to make sure eyes were focused on her face or her ring. When not traveling or when she plans to stay somewhere for a while without doing anything too strenuous she will opt for brighter colors, she is rather fond of bright and happy colors such as yellow or light green, though never together. 

PERSONALITY

“The shadow runs when the good ones go to war.”

'Sweet as sugar when there's no danger or conflict, but as dangerous and uncontrollable as a wildfire when angry.' That's how one of Armina's earliest friends at the white tower described her when she asked what they thought of her. Armina couldn't argue with that assessment. None who truly know her will argue with this assessment either. Armina was known among her novice family to be the first to lend a sympathetic ear if necessary, and to lash out at those who hurt her friends if they had the gall to show their faces around her while her 'sisters' were still crying or hurting. More than once she was lectured and sent to the mistress of novice for fighting, and not with her fellow novices. She often jokes that her first year in the tower she couldn't sit down for the flares from the switching she had received, but there is also a note of pride in her voice about it. There are a few who were in that family that were raised to the shawl that would argue she never quite outgrew that from her novice years, and Armina does not argue with that either. Despite her early years of getting into fights it is clear to all that know her that the sweet is a far more common part of who Armina is. As her 'family' shifted and she became on of the senior novices among it she would often hold her 'sisters' as they cried. Several times she would cry with the new ones the first few nights they were away from their family. This sweet, almost motherly attitude, would stick with her as an accepted, and several time she would cradle the newly raised accepted as they sobbed into her skirts. Even as Aes Sedai she would often play a motherly role to those who needed it, though never as forwardly as she could as a novice or accepted. After all, an Aes Sedai had to keep some level of distance from the novices and accepted, at least when the other sisters were around. This attitude has carried over to her work alongside the soldiers and warriors who keep watch along the blight. Oftentimes she will sit and listen to a young soldier who is on their first campaign, offering a few words of encouragement or gentle affirmation that they are where they should be.

Those who expect all sweet and kindness are often surprised when they find out what happens to those who betray Armina's trust. It is rare but her anger is as well known as her sweetness among those who stand beside her. More than once her temper had gotten her into trouble, not just as a novice but as an accepted and even as an Aes Sedai. She manages to hide her emotion when necessary, but if pushed to far her temper will flare beyond what would be considered acceptable for an Aes Sedai to show. Yet the victims of her wrath often learn to fear her, or if not they find themselves in the infirmary if they try to move against her once more. However, this side of her is easy to avoid, and most manage to do just that. Few are those who have invited her wrath, fewer still who can talk about it. 

HISTORY

Armina was born to merchant parents on the border of Shienar, close to the Aiel waste. Born late in the winter, the midwifes were afraid she might not survive her first year, but when a passing healer was consulted they told her parents not to worry. Times were already leaner than they should have been for the family just starting out, and her mother was worried that she might not be fit to watch after the little girl. The healer mentioned that the girl was strong, and that all her energy would see her survive. She assured them both not to worry, that the child would be fine, and that she had a destiny in store for her. Perhaps it would have been better if the healer never came, because that mention of a great destiny would go to her mothers head. Her child was now not just a baby girl, but one who would surely do great things, and nothing could get in the way of that.

What her mother saw as prophecy was a blade that would cut deep into Armina's relationship with her family. Her father was a poor merchant who worked desperately to provide for his family, working himself to the bone late into the night to provide what he could for them. Her mother worked as a servant for a wealthier family, and brought in a small income that supplemented what her husband did but it wasn't enough for her. As Armina grew older her mother would try to steer her toward a direction she saw as fitting for a child with a destiny. So it was that she was forbidden to play with children 'beneath her' which meant most of the village children. She was told to sit and read, to learn, to prepare herself for her 'destiny.' She hated every minute of it. When she was allowed to play it was never with the village children, but only with passer by's who likely would only come into town once a year, or that were technically above her station. When she complained to her mother that she had no friends the woman smiled and simply said that she needed none, for she was destined for greater things.

Perhaps because of that isolation her mother forced her into as a child that Armina became so rebellious as a teenager. After her father started making money she insisted on traveling with him, and when her mother refused she would refuse to listen and go with her anyway. In addition she took up the sword this time, at first as a passing fancy to drive her mother insane but she soon found it also useful for drawing the eye of men, especially men from outside the village. So she took to wearing one around town and when traveling with her father to the capital. The young men in the village were more than happy to work with helping her learn things, some had more pure motives than others but none held her interest for very long. 

The only man to catch her eye for any amount of time was a visitor to their little town, a warrior by the name of Corlan. A member of Hama N'dore and the only man who was unimpressed by her carrying a sword. At first she was insulted, and insisted that the man not be allowed to stay at their house after their father initially offered shelter to the small group of warriors who were passing through. She was shocked when her father told her that he would not send these men away, and for a time fumed at the thought of these men staying with them.

As time passed she came not only to respect but actually care for the Aiel who came to their village quite often. She found out how rare water was in their home still, and how they went through the mountain pass to practice hunting. As the years went on she actually looked forward to the few weeks a year she would get to see Corlan. When he wasn't around she started pestering the travelers she knew made their way out there to give any answers they could about Aiel customs. While she thought she was being sneaky it was clear to anyone that the poor girl was in love. Her father was more than happy to help her out with chasing after the young man, her mother was not.

It was likely the attitudes of her parents towards Corlan that caused Armina to chase after him that much harder. She tried everything she knew to get his attention, to get him to stay longer. At one point she was ready to hide his spears in order to get him to stay just an extra day. Yet she didn't have to go that far to get what she wanted. Corlan stole a kiss, promising that when he returned from the hunt in the mountains he would talk to her about their future together. Armina melted when she heard it, standing up and allowing him to take his spears.

When he returned the two did talk, and talk late into the night with some wine she managed to sneak out of her fathers office. Young, impressionable, and drunk, Armina made a decision that would haunt her for the rest of her life, though she couldn't possibly have known that at the time. She spent the night with the young man, and in the morning they both spoke of returning to the Waste together after Corlan was done with his tour in the north. He was finally heading north to fight against the shadow. Armina promised she would be waiting when he returned, and they would make their plans known. Sadly she would never get that chance, when the men of the waste came back a few months later they informed her what had happened. Corlan had fallen in an ambush, cut down doing his duty. It left her heartbroken, two weeks later she found out something that left her further heartbroken. She was with child, his child.

Her mother was furious, and on more than one occasion threatened to disown her if she did not agree to give up the child once it was born. Armina stubbornly refused, she would not give up the child.  Several times nearly came to blows with her mother over this, her mother determined that she give the child up to pursue her supposed destiny, Armina determined to raise the little one she as carrying.. It was only ever the intervention of her father that kept the two women from tearing each other apart. He sent Armina's mother away, telling her to go spend some time with her sister until the little one was born. Reluctantly, her mother agreed, but she kept writing demanding letters to her daughter and the village midwife. She would not be silenced.

When the child came there were signs that things were not going well, the midwife came late, the water wasn't warmed properly to help with the pains, and then when the child finally came, there was a fuss over its health. Armina had hoped that her father would be present to help her through this, or that someone would help her through it but that was not to be. The Midwife refused her father entry, and even refused to let her grandmother, who had come to see the baby when it was born, to join her and comfort her during this time. When the child finally came, the midwife looked concerned, and Armina could not get an answer from her about what was going on.

'What's wrong?"

Armina remembered asking the question, but no answer was given. Her child, her baby boy, he was whisked away in an instant, supposedly taken to another room for a doctor to see. They told her later that the child had died, asphyxiated from something stuck in its throat. They had buried it immediately, not wanting her to suffer. She never even got to hold the child. She cried for days after that, the midwife her father had hired did her best to comfort her, but it was to no avail. She would not eat or drink, she barely slept, and when she did it was always fitful and filled with nightmares. Her father tried to distract her from her grief, he bought her new clothes, new jewelry, books, a fine horse. He tried to get her to take up her old habits of swordplay, and in a desperate move took her when he left with the merchant caravan for the capital, hoping that a change of scenery would help her to recover. When that didn't work he got desperate.

Her father called for every healer he could afford, and in desperation turned to Armina's Great Aunt. A woman who he hadn't spoken to since his own marriage to her mother over twenty five years before. She had finally reconnected with her nephew over this, her own grandchildren all having left her home a few years ago. The woman recommended getting Armina away for a time to help her clear her head, get her away from the place where she lost her child's father and the child itself. It was a sound plan, and even Corlan's mother who had come hoping to see her grandchild, agreed that it would be good for her to get away. Beset on all sides by this suggestion, her father relented and allowed her to leave with his Aunt for Tar Valon.

The small village she ended up in was much like her home, only it was much closer to a large city. In many ways it was just what she needed, there were no constant reminders of the love she lost, of the dreams for a future she'd had. The young men and women around the village did not know her past or her mother, nor her supposed 'great destiny.' For the first time in her life, Armina was allowed to be no more than a regular woman. It was liberating, and it was a great help in her healing, yet for all of this newfound freedom she could not shake what happened to her. The thought of Corlan dying in the north, of her baby not surviving its birth... despite her more cheerful demeanor she could not shake those, so one day when she finished her chores she went into the city to the White Tower and asked if it was possible to learn to assist others.

After a brief test she was told she could learn to channel, and offered a place at the tower in Novice white. Much older than the other girls in her 'family,' she quickly became the older sister/mother figure for them. Many of them were barely any older than her when she had first met her fallen love. Many like her had never been away from home for any length of time and one or two were ripped from their families with little more than a few days to say goodbye. She would hold them as they cried about being away from their families, and protect them when a young trainee would star to smile a little too frequently or steal a kiss from them, warning the young men that she too knew how to use a blade. 

Despite her quick and seemingly natural role as an older sister to her family, she had a difficult time adapting to tower rules, particularly about when she could and could not speak. So for much of her first year she would be sent to the Mistress of Novices for acting out, either from getting into (and often winning) fights with trainees who did not take her seriously or speaking back to a full sister after being caught in said scuffle. It took nearly a full year but her reputation for fighting with the trainees took hold and they learned not to mess with her, and she learned to take the criticism of Aes Sedai without malice. After all, as the MoN would often tell her 'no one here wishes to see you fail child.' So it was that she learned to take the criticism in stride, to pick away at the words, and on occasion of very poorly worded instructions turn it on its head.

After five years as a novice she found herself summoned, to the basement of the tower. Words were recited, traditional exchanges given. She was told this was her first of three attempts she would be allowed to move forward, she was also warned of the dangers in this test and what it would mean. She paused for a moment before answering, this was why she had come, what she had come to do. She disrobed as instructed and walked through the first arch, not knowing what she would face, she only knew that she had to move forward. She had to go on with this.

What Was

"He's bleeding! Quick, get a rag!"

There was chaos around their house, her father ran out of the room as Armina rushed in with a bucket of cold water. A warrior whose name she could not remember grabbed the bucket and dipped a cup in it, pouring the liquid over Corlan's wound. It was deep, and in his side. The Fade had known just where to strike, and had struck deep. A fade? This far south??. The thought was pushed from her mind just as quickly as it entered, she had to help, he was on the edge as is and every second counted. As her father rushed back in she noticed it, a door. The door she had come through, the door her father had come through, and yet there was something beyond it. 

"Armina..." The name came in a whisper, she heard it, she wanted to turn, to rush to her betrothed's side. Yet there was something that kept her from going. Wait, she had never been betrothed. 

"This isn't real..." 

Armina remembers uttering the words, not really knowing why but knowing something wasn't right. She remembers walking through the door, slowly, fighting back tears as her father, her future father in law, and her betrothed all tried to call her back. She paused as she made her way to the door only once. She considered staying, Corlan would not survive without her assistance, she knew that to be true, she wasn't sure how but she knew it would happen. 

"Armina... shade of my heart... please"

They were the last words she heard from him.

When she came out the other side she saw a sister of the blue standing above her, she felt the cold water run over her as she fought back tears. She was determined not to show her pain, not to these women. She had worked too damn hard to come this far, to become part of the tower. They would not see her cry, they would not know of what she had suffered. She stood and walked toward the second door as directed. She had started now, she could not stop, to do so would betray everyone who had helped her get this far.

What Is

"You're leaving for Tar Valon then?"

Her fathers eyes were filled with tears as she stood before him. He had grown older since she'd left, and managing his business alone had left him far more lean than he was in her younger years. He had grown old trying to look after her and her boy. Trying to give them a life fit for one of his children, yet try as he might he could not provide stability here that they needed. Her Great Aunt had asked for her to come, to give the boy a chance at becoming something greater. 

"Yes, we cannot pass up this chance, schooling at Tar Valon and a chance to have Cirus study under the shadow of the greatest city in the world? I know it's hard father, but he will have a far better life there." She smiled at him as he set his quill down. He may not like it but he would let her go, her father had never been able to tell her no. 

"Mamma."

It was a whisper, which in itself was odd. Her little one was always so loud and active, something was wrong. Armina turned around, there was blood trickling down his head, he was injured. She stood in stunned silence, her father rushed by her, practically tripping over his own desk. He fretted over the little boy, As Armina felt her senses come back to her she noticed something, where her father had sat was a door.  She didn't know what it was, she didn't know how it got there, but something told her it was important. She moved toward it slowly,

"Mamma..." the voice called again, pained, scared, concerned, every step was agony but she new she had to press on. She had to move on, even as her son called for her one last time, with barely a breath.

She emerged from the other side, this time the tears came, briefly. She tried to compose them, to hold herself together. She doesn't recall if she managed it or not, but she new she had to press on. There was no other way, if she walked away now all she'd seen, all she'd forced herself through, she would push forward, she had to push forward.

What will be

"Mother! Mother!"

Armina turned away book she had been reading, Cirus was running toward her wearing a fresh set of Cadin'sor. Cut to the cloth of a Sovin Nai, he cut a dashing figure. Her heart filled with pride as as he stopped at the edge of her home, she waved him in. It was not so traditional as some of her friends or family among the hold, but they understood this wet lander had her own customs. As Cirus came in Corlan stood just outside. He would never enter without hearing her speak to him. She did not smile, or rush to greet him. She merely stood and waited for her husband to speak, to ask a question of him.

"May I come in roof mistress."

"You are welcome here warrior."

The words still felt foreign to her. She never heard her father ask permission to come home, to have her husband ask after sixteen years of marriage was still odd. He came in with a small smile as he did so, she swore he took pride in this. Yet suddenly his gaze turned to fear, her husband did not show fear. Something was wrong, she turned around and saw just what had happened.

Armina turned quickly and ran to her sons side, something was wrong with him. He was suddenly convulsing, his eyes were open but she could not see the pupils.  She reached down and cradled her little one in her arms. She didn't know what was wrong, she didn't know what to do and that was terrifying. She had always known what to do, nothing had ever come from it. As she turned to speak to Corlan she saw something else, a shimmering door. It shouldn't have been there, it was important... why was it important? She knew it was important, slowly she moved toward it. She felt Corlan reach out and grab her by the arm.

"Armina!"

Her husbands voice cut into her for a moment, the urgency. Her little girl would not survive without help. Yet she had to move forward, this was her one chance. Her only chance... a chance to prevent this future? It was her one chance. She new she needed to move.

"Armina he won't survive without you!"

The words cut deep, into her heart and beyond. She felt the tears flow from her cheeks as she moved forward. "I love you, please look after our little one."

As she came out the other side she broke down and began sobbing. She did not notice the Armylin above her, or hear the words that were spoken. She barely felt the cold water run down her as it was poured over her. As she was helped up she could not think, she could not articulate a single word. She could only weep at what she had been forced to do. She walked out, to her best friends quarters, still crying. The older woman held her as she cried the rest of the night. She never asked a question, she just let Armina cry into her lap that whole night. She knew the pain that the test could bring, and did not let her friend say a word.

For years after that Armina was an accepted she spent much of her time in the warder yard and the open fields of the tower, not to ogle swordsmen or the gaidin trainees, but to find her own style of what worked. The Master of the Yard made it very clear he did not want her to be bothering his trainees during the day, so early in the morning she would practice her swordsmanship, or occasionally some basic hand to hand drills she had observed some of the men in the tower practicing on free days. During the regular day she would see to her studies, teaching classes on weaves for the one power to newly arrived novices and making sure that her charges were understanding of all the rules and laws that had taken her so long to learn. She would often spend late nights in the tower library reading over ancient accounts of battles, not for the knowledge they rewarded intrinsically but for hints as to how the one power might be turned into a weapon against the shadow. She didn't find anything new, for what hope did an accepted have of developing such a thing, but she did manage on a few innovations of her own that she found rather useful. The most well known and possibly unconventional weave was hers use of a weapon. A sword of fire often more associated with the Asha'man of the black tower, but as she found, no less impractical when wielding as a weapon. Useful for close quarters, if it was ever necessary.

She kept a routine to her day that left her with little free time, save on days when there were freedoms offered to all students of the White Tower. Other than this her days were regimented into early morning training, classes either being taught or observed with the intent of sharpening her own skills, and evenings spent pouring over books looking for ways the one power could be used that might have been missed by the other accepted. It left her drained most days, but she felt fulfilled, even content most days. She felt like the healer her mother had told her of may have been right, that she had a destiny, but it was not what her mother would have wanted. She would follow whatever path the wheel set for her without resentment, and she felt herself being drawn toward the green, for the green were always the first of the ajah's to ride to protect the dragons peace.

When the rumor mill started about Armina becoming Aes Sedai she had a moment of brief panic, while she knew the 100 weaves she knew just how difficult this test could be, and she would only be allowed one shot at it. She turned to her friends for aid as soon as the rumors started. She was fortunate, all the novices and accepted she had forged ties with came to her aid. When she wasn't busy teaching a class her friends agreed to assist her in preparing for the test however they could, Armina was subject to extreme heat turning to freezing cold, being pulled upside down and rotated like part of a clock on a nearly daily basis. The gratitude she felt was beyond words as they would take shifts helping her prepare. It was exhausting day after day, but she was getting better, the weaves came more easily and the brief blushes or sparks of anger that did appear near the end became less and less frequent until they were no longer coming out as she trained. Even a few of the trainee's who'd taken to sparing with her in the early morning hours taught her some tricks to help her focus and keep her composure. She would never have made it during that time if not for the help of her friends.

Upon being summoned for her test Armina answered and came the call. The test was brutal, but strangely she found it less draining than the accepted test had been. Perhaps it was because moving from test to test she could not recall what had happened, or perhaps it was simply because she was far older and had come to accept that her old life was left behind. Whatever the case, she knew that her training with her friends had helped her, and that she would never have made it this far without the aid of those who were standing here now. She could not say she came through the test with flying colors, but a strong majority of those present agreed that she had carried herself with the composure required of an Aes Sedai. 

Upon return to her quarters after saying the three oaths she found a letter from her father waiting for her. It was quite a shock, she hadn't heard from him in nearly ten years. As she read it was clear the letter had been dictated rather than written, and the letter made it clear why. Her father was dying, and he wanted to see her one last time before passing back to the earth. As Aes Sedai her life was her own, but she could not so easily forsake this part of her life. Her father had done everything for her, given up his own happiness and at times dinner so she could have a life without want. She set out to travel to the north, to see her father for what she imagined would be the last time and pay respects to her life before the tower. What she couldn't have known was how this would upend her life at the tower.

She arrived to find her father ill, very ill. Healers had been summoned, but all said he was too weak to survive the treatment. No healer of the yellow could be summoned in time, but he said that wasn't why he had summoned her. He smiled weakly as she stood before him, he appeared thin and weak, not at all like the man she remembered taking her out on trips on her name day or holding her close when she cried. Despite her training she felt some tears form at the edge of her face, so many happy memories of her life involved this man. Here he was, weak, barely able to raise his head to speak to her. She thought herself above the concerns of her home, but this shook that belief. She thought she was a woman of the tower, this experience rocked that belief.

It was rocked further the next day, her father had passed overnight. It was not so much his passing that had unnerved her as what she found when clearing out his desk. There were letters addressed to her, written in his hand. Curious, she opened one. If seeing her father had rocked her faith in her having given up her old life, reading these letters destroyed the foundation she had built that belief on. They spoke of a truth her father had kept from her. Shortly after Armina had been raised to accepted he had heard something from a distant family member, the baby that her mother had sent had left. The child her mother had sent... Armina had ever only known herself to be an only child, and the letter mentioned that he had heard this nearly fifteen years ago. It mentioned how he had meant to rush to Tar Valon, to grab her and take her to find his grandson. Yet when he arrived, when he heard of what choice she had made... He could not bring himself to tell her. 

The letters contents broke her heart, she could not hate her father. Not so freshly after he had passed, but she was angry with him, furious even. If she had known the child was alive... what she had seen as an accepted.... could that be the truth? Could he really be in danger? Her father had left a name of the woman he was left with and a city where the boy had been taken. Caemlyn. Caemlyn... Armina had never been to Caemlyn, and traveling there because of that was something that an Aes Sedai would do. After all, she was Aes Sedai now, unless she received a direct order from the tower or the Captain General she was free to do as she pleased. Armina didn't waste any time, she bought herself a horse and rode immediately toward Caemlyn. She didn't dare risk traveling with gateways, she didn't want questions asked about this. Some might question her conviction to the tower, others might try to talk her out of this but she needed answers. If nothing else she needed to know why this woman had taken her child.

Her trip to Caemlyn was relatively uneventful, though the habit of wearing a sword did draw eyes she was certain it was far less than if she had been wearing her gold serpent ring. The city itself was not as strange to her as she had thought it would be, which perhaps was a good thing given how much on edge she was. As she walked through the street to the hovel where her fathers cousin lived she became only more concerned. The house was hardly in the best of shape, and when asking after the woman she had been warned that she was a violent drunk, to hear it made her heart sink but she had some sliver of hope in her heart. She hoped that her son would at least be here, that she could pull him away from this and give him a decent life. At the very least she could get him away from this... back to her family in Sheinar, or with a friend of hers who could better look after him, maybe even reach out to his grandmother. Let him grow up among his fathers people...

Entering the one room that was the woman's home shattered what little doubt was left in her. She had to get him away form here, she just had to find him. When she spoke to the woman and introduced herself her composure started to crack, the woman cursed out her and her father. Cursing the boy that had been 'put upon her poor ailing house.' What shocked Armina most was when she talked about how much trouble he was. The claims of him running out into the streets late at night, of hiding from what she called 'necessary beatings' to 'instill character.' The woman claimed her mother was the only one who ever did anything for her when she sent some money with the child. All of it grated on Armina until the point she felt herself reach for Saidar, a blade in her hand, a blade of fire. She had no intent to use it, she would not have been able to raise it had she wanted to because of the three oaths, but the blade had caught the woman's attention. She had stopped with her angry tones and become far more cautious.

When Armina asked after him the woman tried to be evasive at first, but eventually Armina got her answer. He had run away, he had run away years ago and the woman didn't know why. Armina pressed further, dread filling her heart but she had to know. Why had he run away, what had this woman done to her little boy the night before. She got her answer, she had beaten him, not for any infraction, but because he had 'gone too long without one.' It was too much for the fresh Aes Sedai, her fathers death, the woman's disrespect of his memory, the knowledge of what she had done. For a moment Armina just stood there, then she let go of the one power and lost control of herself.

The three oaths forbid an Aes Sedai from killing someone with the one power, but there was no binding against violence from more traditional means. When she heard what the woman had done to her precious baby Armina became enraged in a way she didn't think possible. She wasn't sure when she started beating her fathers cousin, she only knows that the reason the woman lived that day was that four men of the queens guard physically carried her away and to stand before a magistrate before she could cool off. It would have been a rather embarrassing moment for the tower if word had gotten out, but Armina had left her serpent ring back at the tower. Thanks to a sympathetic Magistrate she was given a fine to pay and made to promise she would not return seek out the woman again. It was a promise she was all to happy to make, she knew that if she ever did see that woman again she wouldn't be able to stop herself from finishing what she had started.

Upon news of what happened making its way back to the tower Armina was sentenced to a severe punishment. She was sent to a farm to do penance until summoned back to the tower. While on the farm she had one saving grace, a friend from her novice years who had never made it to the shawl and returned to Caemlyn. One day she saw a boy wandering alone on the street, golden blonde hair and fierce green eyes. She sent word to Armina, and promised that she would do her best to look after the boy from afar, as when she had approached him he had run. The letters were a saving grace, a chance at hope that her little one was still alive. Shortly thereafter another letter was sent, this time with a sketch that made Armina's heart soar, the image was very much like a young Corlan. Not quite as hard or angular, but very much the face of his father.

When the letters stopped she feared the worst, but there was nothing she could do. She had been made to promise not to leave this town without written consent of the tower. For the last years she has been fearful, but she refuses to believe the worst. Now, with her penance done, she is finally able to leave the town, but she knows she will not be allowed to roam free so easily. For four years she worked at the farm without question, and for seven years those in charge of looking after her asked no questions of her past. Only recently was she given leave to rejoin the tower, whether this is a mercy or a test she does not know. One thing Armina is certain about is that she will not allow herself to be set back again. She swore to herself during those years she would learn patience, and as much as she could, guile. Her baby was out there, and she would find him. Once that was settled he could be brought to the tower and given a better life, even if it was a simple one. He would be safe, this she swore to herself.

Books read: All up to Knife of Dreams