Post by Talana Trakand on Dec 22, 2021 17:34:55 GMT
Name: Talana Trakand
Age: 60
Nationality: Andoran
Place of Birth: Caemlyn, Andor
Place of Residence: Caemlyn, Andor
Affiliation: Andor, the White Tower
Rank/Title: Queen of Andor, Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah
One Power Strength: 5
Air: 6 | Earth: 3 | Fire: 4 | Spirit: 8 | Water: 5
Date they were raised to Novice/Soldier: 66 FA
Date they were raised to Accepted/Dedicated: 71 FA
Date they were raised to Aes Sedai/Asha'man: 76 FA
Date they were raised to any other rank: 100 FA Crowned Queen of Andor
Talents: None
Weave Affinities: None
Weapon Skills:
Martial: 0 | Hand-Held: 4 | Stave: 1 | Thrown: 4 | Ranged: 0 | Mounted: 4
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 183.5 lbs
Build/Complexion: Fair, light skinned with freckles dotted over her face
Eye/Hair Color: Honey-brown eyes with greying auburn hair (which has darkened from the fiery mane she once sported)
Distinguishing Features:
Raised to be a Queen,Talana knows she is the ruler that Andor needs and one that her nation has needed for three generations. One with her eyes turned inwards towards her kingdom, rather than out to the affairs of all. She is no caretaker like her predecessors but a ruler in earnest. She learned to play the game of houses from a young age, turning her sharp wit and intelligence to the cunning and wit required to outsmart the other houses and the sheer force of will to keep the Andorean nobility in line. Unlike many of her fellow rulers throughout the world, and history, Talana is not inherently ambitious and so she does not strive to reclaim lost glory or build her power, instead she seeks to consolidate her nation’s strength and deepen its roots. Something her mother was never capable of.
She owes much of her success to a deep understanding of the people she serves, much like her Grandmother Elayne, in a way that her mother Moranna never could. Though both mother and daughter share many traits, traits passed down from Elayne, they differ like night and day. Moranna was always cold and distant, a true Aes Sedai of the White Ajah. Driven by logic. When people defied logic or tried to reason with her in a manner which she did not agree with, Moranna would often ignore them but Talana is a gentler soul, a woman of the people and a true Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah. She understands her people and the need to keep them unified, strengthened against the encroaching Shadows.
Her years upon the throne have weighed Talana down, as if she were shouldering the weight of the entire world, and forced her to withdraw within her own shell but she is still as compassionate, kind and gentle as the day she assumed the throne. She is fierce, stubborn, willful and patient. That fierceness may be tempered by her gentler nature but she will still bring her will and forceful personality to bear should the need arise and thus few would question her rule, even fewer would be brave enough to do so aloud.
The granddaughter of Elayne Trakand and the daughter of queen Moranna, Talana Trakand was destined to be a queen. Raised for it, groomed into a leader practically from her first breath. The Aes Sedai who once advised Moranna found that Talana’s mother was… resistant, often citing a lack of logic to the advice and thus ignoring it so the Aes Sedai turned her eye to Talana, to the princess. She fought to shape her into a leader who would listen as well as decide, to take council rather than deny it. The lessons that the Aes Sedai chose to teach Talana were lessons of human fallibility, the beauty of inevitability and the way that it drives humanity to be better. She learned to balance the cold logic of her mother and the warm humanity of the human condition, the very things that Moranna viewed as chains holding people from their potential. There were whispers, in the city and among the nobles, of hope. A hope that Talana would ascend to the throne while young, sooner rather than later, so that Andor might once again be strengthened. Hearing such whispers, however, only served to make Talana nervous and sorrowful. She could already feel the distance between her and her mother growing, such whispers could only ever serve to deepen the divide should they come to light.
Her mother never gave any indication that she resented her daughter for the whispers and hopes of the people, nor that she was jealous, but Moranna never denied it either. They never really talked about it. Talana chose to believe that her mother understood and that her mother had been thrust to the forefront before she was ready, she chose to believe that her mother was wearied by her duties and resigned to her fate, to the fact that she could never be good enough in the shadow of Elayne’s legacy which loomed so heavily over the kingdom throughout her mother’s rule.
Talana, however, would fight to live up to her grandmother’s legacy. She knew that she could rule with the same fair, steady hand and she knew that she would make her grandmother, and her mother, proud one day.
As the whispers grew louder throughout the kingdom Talana’s spark was discovered, she was sent to the White Tower to train and even living the life of a Novice she was relieved. She no longer had the watchful, hopeful eyes of the nobility following her every move or the way the people weighed her words against her mother’s cold logic. For a decade she trained and she found freedom in it, life was physically harsh and yet her spirit felt light. Free.
She would never be as powerful as her grandmother, nor as talented with the One Power, but she ascended to the shawl to join the Sisters of the Blue Ajah showing that she would be strong in her own right. Many expected her to return to Andor upon swearing the oaths or remain within the tower but she disappeared instead, showing up a short time later in Caralain where she helped the refugees of the schism between the White and Black towers. She turned her attention to the organisation of relief efforts amongst her peers, showing an aptitude for administration that soon drew the attention of the First Selector.
The First Selector chastised her fiercely in private and her mother in public, after all the daughter heir of Andor should never risk herself. The First Selector was understandably concerned, for Andor had been one of the White Towers strongest allies from the day the Tower was founded. For the daughter-heir to expose herself during a siege, well it was simply inviting trouble. For everyone. Yet the second Dreamspike had been planted and thus those outside the Dragon pact could not travel so they posed little threat to her, then. Once Talana had been suitably chastised by both parties she was praised, quite openly, for her courage, perseverance and diligence. Her mother, logical and cunning, suggested (firmly) that she turn her attention to the soup kitchens, hospices and outreach within her homeland in preparation for her rule. To be a queen of the people, as it were, like her grandmother.
It was around that time when the course of Talana’s life changed in ways she could never have foreseen, when she met Calyas Athaidhrin. An Asha’man of the Water Legion and a Sheinaran with no titles or allegiances binding him. He was a fugitive through the Tower Wars having defied Rahlin’s decrees throughout his madness but with Caralain besieged by the forces of the Dragon Compact and the White Tower he was no longer being hunted. Many of the loyalists were confined with their master, Rahlin, leaving him free to wander the world. He was aimless, leaderless and lost until he met Talana. Once she knew how she felt Talana brought him to Caemlyn to meet Moranna, despite all of the things which weighed against him. Hoping that her mother would accept that Talana needed this.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity Talana saw pleasure and pride spill out from her mother, radiating like heat from the sun. Knowing that Calyas could bring even the coldest and most logical woman out of her shell, well, Talana was certain then that he was the one. The one she should marry, the man who could help her rule. Even in the wake of Rahlin’s madness their wedding was a joyous occasion, a mark of the peace forged between the Towers as much as a symbol of hope for the future. Despite the joy there were uneasy whispers among the nobles, after all Rahlin had succumbed to madness surely others could as well. The nobility questioned whether the taint had once again settled over the One Power or if it was something else.
Talana needed the nobility to trust her husband, the prince, and for them to see her judgement would always be sound. That she would not risk the kingdom.
Proving that the doubts of Andoran nobles were unfounded became Talana’s goal, her sole mission as Daughter-Heir. She leveraged the good will which she had built with the people over many years to prove their fears and doubts were unfounded, pulling Calyas through nearly every hostel, hospital and soup kitchen within the kingdom so that the people might see their new prince. The Healing Prince, as he would come to be known. Calyas was, after all, an Asha’man of the Water Legion and easily the equal of even the strongest healers within the White Tower, soon tales of his talents were spreading like wildfire as Calyas won over the hearts and minds of Andor. Even with the birth of their children Talana was determined to continue, she argued that abandoning the people to care for their own would at best cause unrest and at worst breed resentment among her people. Understandably, however, Moranna was concerned for the stability of the royal line and so she asked the White Tower for a favour, an Aes Sedai to escort the royal couple and their heirs.
And their Aes Sedai enforced Moranna’s will, limiting Talana’s duties and visits to the people. A change which, to put it mildly, frustrated the Daughter-Heir. Of course, her mother’s fears were well founded given the instability which Moranna had faced upon her ascension to the throne but all the same inaction felt like surrender. It felt like leaving the people to face their own demons without the open hand of the royal line.
Such concerns meant little to her children though, Gareth and Ishara. Many of their earliest, fond, memories stem from their visits to the various institutions offering aid to their people. The freedom offered while on those visits inevitably fed Ishara’s impulsive nature, often the young princess dragged her brother around getting into trouble. Talana, of course, insisted that their Aes Sedai escort dedicate all of their attention to her children’s protection and she kept a watchful eye on them too. More often than not Talana found her daughter with mud caked into her dress and a mischievous, rebellious glint in her eye while her brother could not meet their mother’s eyes as Talana scolded them for their behaviour.
Talana made sure to take her children to task, meeting their poor behaviour with an unnerving icy calm. She rarely reprimanded them in public, nor did she scold them particularly harshly. Instead she chose to focus on making amends, teaching them to compensate people for their behaviour in full be they a noble or a commoner. No bad deed went unpunished and all of those who were wronged by her children, no matter how minor, received their dues.
And then the time came for Talana to assume the throne, to become the Queen of Andor with Calyas beside her. Guarding her, giving her counsel and supporting her. During the first few years of her rule their marriage was understandably strained, Talana’s duties continued to expand almost exponentially and now he was faced with his own duties. No longer could he be a free spirit, he now had to protect his children and his queen. He had to be there at her side for every engagement and be even more vigilant, for now he was married to the Queen and while the Shadow might be quiet within Andor it would always be there. Waiting, watching…
Once her rule was secure and Talana settled into her new life as the Queen they found a happy balance for their marriage, leaning into the double-bond which would then allow Calyas to move freely throughout the kingdom. He could act as the long arm of the crown, the hand of the Queen within even the farthest reaches of the kingdom all while knowing that his wife was safe, and Talana knowing that the love of her life was well. They could feel each other no matter how far and so he shrugged off the title of Consort-Prince, finding purpose once more within the boundaries of his life as the Queen’s husband.
The years trickled by as Talana worked to be the best queen, wife and mother she could be. She worked to strengthen Andor’s bonds within the Dragon Compact, diversify trade, upgrade infrastructure and expand the accessibility of education whilst trying to live a quiet, family driven life wherever she could. Showering her children with the love and affection which filled her heart every time she set eyes on them.
But when Ishara discovered she could channel, well that was the first time Talana had felt true terror. The way her son had been wounded, almost killed, and only saved by her daughter touching the source… she could not decide between ranted lectures and holding her children close, clinging on for dear life. Of course, with the discovery of Ishara’s ability to touch the source came yet more changes and so she had to surrender her daughter into the care of the White Tower where she would face a hard life learning to harness her powers. Her son travelled with Ishara to the Tower, to train with the Warders who were masters of single combat and protection, so the halls of the palace grew quiet. She filled the void with her duties always watching should her children need her. Even as her son was called to the Black Tower she remained vigilant, watching from her throne and hoping that her children would never need her to interfere.
And in 112 her world turned upside down, a messenger rushed to the palace from the Borderlands with word of Talana’s precious son. Her staff woke her hours before dawn and so Talana received the messenger with great trepidation, it was a moment which shattered her world into thousands of tiny pieces. Gareth was dead. Grief and rage threatened the stability of Andor as their queen faced the greatest challenge of her reign, for days she grieved in the darkness of her chambers until finally she emerged. Her sorrow has been replaced with rage, pure rage. Calyas, understandably, returned to the capital when he felt her pain and it was Calyas that stopped the marshalling of Andor’s armies as Talana raged at the loss of her own flesh and blood. Even as the nobles clamoured for a state funeral and a new Prince to be named Talana threw them from the palace, and Calyas soothed their bruised egos and cooled their anger, Calyas and her trusted advisors shouldered the burden and bore the brunt of her rage. When finally her temper began to cool, nearly three weeks after receiving the news, Talana reached out to all of those she’d thrown from the palace or vented her fury upon calling them to the palace so that she could make amends. Resigned to her pain she agreed not to muster the armies of Andor, to return to the infrastructure projects and to name a Prince within a year despite her reservations and in return the Great Houses agreed to provide a contingent of their best to scour the Shadow from her lands and investigate anything even remotely suspicious. Despite her anger cooling she would never forgive the Shadow nor let it find purchase in her lands. She would cut the infection out over and over to protect her people and her child.
Behind closed doors Calyas remained close, doing his best to sooth his wife and bring her even small moments of glee yet she felt hollow. The cost of her duty, and the duty she inflicted upon her children, becoming a burden she resented.
She filled the empty hours with her duties, waiting for her child to return to her, doubling down on strengthening Andor from within. The Rosebud academies opened for those that could not afford to attend the Academy of the Blooming Rose, or did not meet the requirements. She opened Andor to the world and strengthened her bonds with her people, reaching out an open hand to them and offering them whatever aid the common folk might require. She manipulated the nobles, twisting them to her will with her mastery of the game and she prepared her home for the coming storms. Hoping upon the Creator that the Shadow would not rise again, that the Seanchan would not invade once more and that the Dragon’s Compact would remain strong with Andor leading the way.
Then word reached her from Ishara, word that lifted the weight from her shoulders and reinvigorated Andor’s beloved queen; Gareth yet lived… Immediately messengers were deployed to find her children, to call them home, and she sent word to Calyas. She kept herself from riding out to find them herself, knowing that her people and the houses would not accept it. Instead she had to wait, not very patiently, for her babies to return home.
TIMELINE
Age: 60
Nationality: Andoran
Place of Birth: Caemlyn, Andor
Place of Residence: Caemlyn, Andor
Affiliation: Andor, the White Tower
Rank/Title: Queen of Andor, Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah
One Power Strength: 5
Air: 6 | Earth: 3 | Fire: 4 | Spirit: 8 | Water: 5
Date they were raised to Novice/Soldier: 66 FA
Date they were raised to Accepted/Dedicated: 71 FA
Date they were raised to Aes Sedai/Asha'man: 76 FA
Date they were raised to any other rank: 100 FA Crowned Queen of Andor
Talents: None
Weave Affinities: None
Weapon Skills:
Martial: 0 | Hand-Held: 4 | Stave: 1 | Thrown: 4 | Ranged: 0 | Mounted: 4
APPEARANCE
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 183.5 lbs
Build/Complexion: Fair, light skinned with freckles dotted over her face
Eye/Hair Color: Honey-brown eyes with greying auburn hair (which has darkened from the fiery mane she once sported)
Distinguishing Features:
- A small scar through her right eyebrow
- Her warm and motherly smile
- Uncommonly bright honey brown eyes
PERSONALITY
Raised to be a Queen,Talana knows she is the ruler that Andor needs and one that her nation has needed for three generations. One with her eyes turned inwards towards her kingdom, rather than out to the affairs of all. She is no caretaker like her predecessors but a ruler in earnest. She learned to play the game of houses from a young age, turning her sharp wit and intelligence to the cunning and wit required to outsmart the other houses and the sheer force of will to keep the Andorean nobility in line. Unlike many of her fellow rulers throughout the world, and history, Talana is not inherently ambitious and so she does not strive to reclaim lost glory or build her power, instead she seeks to consolidate her nation’s strength and deepen its roots. Something her mother was never capable of.
She owes much of her success to a deep understanding of the people she serves, much like her Grandmother Elayne, in a way that her mother Moranna never could. Though both mother and daughter share many traits, traits passed down from Elayne, they differ like night and day. Moranna was always cold and distant, a true Aes Sedai of the White Ajah. Driven by logic. When people defied logic or tried to reason with her in a manner which she did not agree with, Moranna would often ignore them but Talana is a gentler soul, a woman of the people and a true Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah. She understands her people and the need to keep them unified, strengthened against the encroaching Shadows.
Her years upon the throne have weighed Talana down, as if she were shouldering the weight of the entire world, and forced her to withdraw within her own shell but she is still as compassionate, kind and gentle as the day she assumed the throne. She is fierce, stubborn, willful and patient. That fierceness may be tempered by her gentler nature but she will still bring her will and forceful personality to bear should the need arise and thus few would question her rule, even fewer would be brave enough to do so aloud.
HISTORY
The granddaughter of Elayne Trakand and the daughter of queen Moranna, Talana Trakand was destined to be a queen. Raised for it, groomed into a leader practically from her first breath. The Aes Sedai who once advised Moranna found that Talana’s mother was… resistant, often citing a lack of logic to the advice and thus ignoring it so the Aes Sedai turned her eye to Talana, to the princess. She fought to shape her into a leader who would listen as well as decide, to take council rather than deny it. The lessons that the Aes Sedai chose to teach Talana were lessons of human fallibility, the beauty of inevitability and the way that it drives humanity to be better. She learned to balance the cold logic of her mother and the warm humanity of the human condition, the very things that Moranna viewed as chains holding people from their potential. There were whispers, in the city and among the nobles, of hope. A hope that Talana would ascend to the throne while young, sooner rather than later, so that Andor might once again be strengthened. Hearing such whispers, however, only served to make Talana nervous and sorrowful. She could already feel the distance between her and her mother growing, such whispers could only ever serve to deepen the divide should they come to light.
Her mother never gave any indication that she resented her daughter for the whispers and hopes of the people, nor that she was jealous, but Moranna never denied it either. They never really talked about it. Talana chose to believe that her mother understood and that her mother had been thrust to the forefront before she was ready, she chose to believe that her mother was wearied by her duties and resigned to her fate, to the fact that she could never be good enough in the shadow of Elayne’s legacy which loomed so heavily over the kingdom throughout her mother’s rule.
Talana, however, would fight to live up to her grandmother’s legacy. She knew that she could rule with the same fair, steady hand and she knew that she would make her grandmother, and her mother, proud one day.
As the whispers grew louder throughout the kingdom Talana’s spark was discovered, she was sent to the White Tower to train and even living the life of a Novice she was relieved. She no longer had the watchful, hopeful eyes of the nobility following her every move or the way the people weighed her words against her mother’s cold logic. For a decade she trained and she found freedom in it, life was physically harsh and yet her spirit felt light. Free.
She would never be as powerful as her grandmother, nor as talented with the One Power, but she ascended to the shawl to join the Sisters of the Blue Ajah showing that she would be strong in her own right. Many expected her to return to Andor upon swearing the oaths or remain within the tower but she disappeared instead, showing up a short time later in Caralain where she helped the refugees of the schism between the White and Black towers. She turned her attention to the organisation of relief efforts amongst her peers, showing an aptitude for administration that soon drew the attention of the First Selector.
The First Selector chastised her fiercely in private and her mother in public, after all the daughter heir of Andor should never risk herself. The First Selector was understandably concerned, for Andor had been one of the White Towers strongest allies from the day the Tower was founded. For the daughter-heir to expose herself during a siege, well it was simply inviting trouble. For everyone. Yet the second Dreamspike had been planted and thus those outside the Dragon pact could not travel so they posed little threat to her, then. Once Talana had been suitably chastised by both parties she was praised, quite openly, for her courage, perseverance and diligence. Her mother, logical and cunning, suggested (firmly) that she turn her attention to the soup kitchens, hospices and outreach within her homeland in preparation for her rule. To be a queen of the people, as it were, like her grandmother.
It was around that time when the course of Talana’s life changed in ways she could never have foreseen, when she met Calyas Athaidhrin. An Asha’man of the Water Legion and a Sheinaran with no titles or allegiances binding him. He was a fugitive through the Tower Wars having defied Rahlin’s decrees throughout his madness but with Caralain besieged by the forces of the Dragon Compact and the White Tower he was no longer being hunted. Many of the loyalists were confined with their master, Rahlin, leaving him free to wander the world. He was aimless, leaderless and lost until he met Talana. Once she knew how she felt Talana brought him to Caemlyn to meet Moranna, despite all of the things which weighed against him. Hoping that her mother would accept that Talana needed this.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity Talana saw pleasure and pride spill out from her mother, radiating like heat from the sun. Knowing that Calyas could bring even the coldest and most logical woman out of her shell, well, Talana was certain then that he was the one. The one she should marry, the man who could help her rule. Even in the wake of Rahlin’s madness their wedding was a joyous occasion, a mark of the peace forged between the Towers as much as a symbol of hope for the future. Despite the joy there were uneasy whispers among the nobles, after all Rahlin had succumbed to madness surely others could as well. The nobility questioned whether the taint had once again settled over the One Power or if it was something else.
Talana needed the nobility to trust her husband, the prince, and for them to see her judgement would always be sound. That she would not risk the kingdom.
Proving that the doubts of Andoran nobles were unfounded became Talana’s goal, her sole mission as Daughter-Heir. She leveraged the good will which she had built with the people over many years to prove their fears and doubts were unfounded, pulling Calyas through nearly every hostel, hospital and soup kitchen within the kingdom so that the people might see their new prince. The Healing Prince, as he would come to be known. Calyas was, after all, an Asha’man of the Water Legion and easily the equal of even the strongest healers within the White Tower, soon tales of his talents were spreading like wildfire as Calyas won over the hearts and minds of Andor. Even with the birth of their children Talana was determined to continue, she argued that abandoning the people to care for their own would at best cause unrest and at worst breed resentment among her people. Understandably, however, Moranna was concerned for the stability of the royal line and so she asked the White Tower for a favour, an Aes Sedai to escort the royal couple and their heirs.
And their Aes Sedai enforced Moranna’s will, limiting Talana’s duties and visits to the people. A change which, to put it mildly, frustrated the Daughter-Heir. Of course, her mother’s fears were well founded given the instability which Moranna had faced upon her ascension to the throne but all the same inaction felt like surrender. It felt like leaving the people to face their own demons without the open hand of the royal line.
Such concerns meant little to her children though, Gareth and Ishara. Many of their earliest, fond, memories stem from their visits to the various institutions offering aid to their people. The freedom offered while on those visits inevitably fed Ishara’s impulsive nature, often the young princess dragged her brother around getting into trouble. Talana, of course, insisted that their Aes Sedai escort dedicate all of their attention to her children’s protection and she kept a watchful eye on them too. More often than not Talana found her daughter with mud caked into her dress and a mischievous, rebellious glint in her eye while her brother could not meet their mother’s eyes as Talana scolded them for their behaviour.
Talana made sure to take her children to task, meeting their poor behaviour with an unnerving icy calm. She rarely reprimanded them in public, nor did she scold them particularly harshly. Instead she chose to focus on making amends, teaching them to compensate people for their behaviour in full be they a noble or a commoner. No bad deed went unpunished and all of those who were wronged by her children, no matter how minor, received their dues.
And then the time came for Talana to assume the throne, to become the Queen of Andor with Calyas beside her. Guarding her, giving her counsel and supporting her. During the first few years of her rule their marriage was understandably strained, Talana’s duties continued to expand almost exponentially and now he was faced with his own duties. No longer could he be a free spirit, he now had to protect his children and his queen. He had to be there at her side for every engagement and be even more vigilant, for now he was married to the Queen and while the Shadow might be quiet within Andor it would always be there. Waiting, watching…
Once her rule was secure and Talana settled into her new life as the Queen they found a happy balance for their marriage, leaning into the double-bond which would then allow Calyas to move freely throughout the kingdom. He could act as the long arm of the crown, the hand of the Queen within even the farthest reaches of the kingdom all while knowing that his wife was safe, and Talana knowing that the love of her life was well. They could feel each other no matter how far and so he shrugged off the title of Consort-Prince, finding purpose once more within the boundaries of his life as the Queen’s husband.
The years trickled by as Talana worked to be the best queen, wife and mother she could be. She worked to strengthen Andor’s bonds within the Dragon Compact, diversify trade, upgrade infrastructure and expand the accessibility of education whilst trying to live a quiet, family driven life wherever she could. Showering her children with the love and affection which filled her heart every time she set eyes on them.
But when Ishara discovered she could channel, well that was the first time Talana had felt true terror. The way her son had been wounded, almost killed, and only saved by her daughter touching the source… she could not decide between ranted lectures and holding her children close, clinging on for dear life. Of course, with the discovery of Ishara’s ability to touch the source came yet more changes and so she had to surrender her daughter into the care of the White Tower where she would face a hard life learning to harness her powers. Her son travelled with Ishara to the Tower, to train with the Warders who were masters of single combat and protection, so the halls of the palace grew quiet. She filled the void with her duties always watching should her children need her. Even as her son was called to the Black Tower she remained vigilant, watching from her throne and hoping that her children would never need her to interfere.
And in 112 her world turned upside down, a messenger rushed to the palace from the Borderlands with word of Talana’s precious son. Her staff woke her hours before dawn and so Talana received the messenger with great trepidation, it was a moment which shattered her world into thousands of tiny pieces. Gareth was dead. Grief and rage threatened the stability of Andor as their queen faced the greatest challenge of her reign, for days she grieved in the darkness of her chambers until finally she emerged. Her sorrow has been replaced with rage, pure rage. Calyas, understandably, returned to the capital when he felt her pain and it was Calyas that stopped the marshalling of Andor’s armies as Talana raged at the loss of her own flesh and blood. Even as the nobles clamoured for a state funeral and a new Prince to be named Talana threw them from the palace, and Calyas soothed their bruised egos and cooled their anger, Calyas and her trusted advisors shouldered the burden and bore the brunt of her rage. When finally her temper began to cool, nearly three weeks after receiving the news, Talana reached out to all of those she’d thrown from the palace or vented her fury upon calling them to the palace so that she could make amends. Resigned to her pain she agreed not to muster the armies of Andor, to return to the infrastructure projects and to name a Prince within a year despite her reservations and in return the Great Houses agreed to provide a contingent of their best to scour the Shadow from her lands and investigate anything even remotely suspicious. Despite her anger cooling she would never forgive the Shadow nor let it find purchase in her lands. She would cut the infection out over and over to protect her people and her child.
Behind closed doors Calyas remained close, doing his best to sooth his wife and bring her even small moments of glee yet she felt hollow. The cost of her duty, and the duty she inflicted upon her children, becoming a burden she resented.
She filled the empty hours with her duties, waiting for her child to return to her, doubling down on strengthening Andor from within. The Rosebud academies opened for those that could not afford to attend the Academy of the Blooming Rose, or did not meet the requirements. She opened Andor to the world and strengthened her bonds with her people, reaching out an open hand to them and offering them whatever aid the common folk might require. She manipulated the nobles, twisting them to her will with her mastery of the game and she prepared her home for the coming storms. Hoping upon the Creator that the Shadow would not rise again, that the Seanchan would not invade once more and that the Dragon’s Compact would remain strong with Andor leading the way.
Then word reached her from Ishara, word that lifted the weight from her shoulders and reinvigorated Andor’s beloved queen; Gareth yet lived… Immediately messengers were deployed to find her children, to call them home, and she sent word to Calyas. She kept herself from riding out to find them herself, knowing that her people and the houses would not accept it. Instead she had to wait, not very patiently, for her babies to return home.
TIMELINE
52 FA – Talana Trakand, daughter of Moranna Trakand, is born.
66 FA – Talana Trakand is sent to the White Tower for training.
76 FA – Talana Trakand is raised as an Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah and sets off to aid the people of Caralain affected by the Tower War. This is when she meets and falls in love with Calyas Athaidhrin.
78 FA - Talana marries Calyas.
84 FA – Gareth Trakand, first son of Talana, is born.
86 FA – Ishara Trakand, first daughter of Talana, and Heir to the Lion Throne, is born.
100 FA – Moranna decides to abdicate the Lion Throne early to her daughter Talana
101 FA – Ishara Trakand is found to have the spark inborn, she is immediately sent to the Tower for training. Gareth Trakand is sent at the same time to train with the Warders.
108 FA - Opens the first of the rosebud academies to the citizens of Andor
112 FA - Word reaches Caemlyn of Gareth's death, Talana begins marshalling her armies before Calyas dissuades her
113 FA - Talana is informed that her son, Gareth, yet lives and she awaits his return. Anxiously.
Books read: New Spring - Winter’s Heart
