Setting : Coliena's Room - Takes place after Karaul's gentling and before Morillin's Trial.

Characters:
Coliena Sedai of the Brown Ajah - The Underdog
Morillin Sedai of the Red?? Ajah - The Favorate

Brief entrance by Novice Thais.

Morillin arches an eyebrow as she glances around the room. "Is he here?" she asks bluntly.

Coliena blinks, "Is who here?" She looks around a few times, brown eyes a little wider.

"Karaul." The word is bitten off, crisply.

Coliena blinks again and shakes her head, "No, he is not in the room."

Morillin steps to a chair and settles herself without asking. "What a surprise," she murmurs dryly. "I was beginning to wonder if you simply kept him tied to your bed, Coliena, and dispensed with letting him leave at all."

Coliena frowns and crosses her arms under her chest, "I don't tie him to the bed... he comes and goes as he pleases."

Morillin crosses her legs calmly and smirks. "Or as you please....whichever comes first, I suppose."

Coliena bites her lip, "No, Morillin, that is not what I do at all. -I- do not control men. And I am insulted that you think I would. Much less, Karaul! He's my friend. I would never do something like that to him." The Brown sister is starting to get angry.

Morillin says "Oh? I was under the impression Karaul is much more than your 'friend', Coliena. You two spend a great deal of time together, and only a Green would bring a man to her quarters as often as you do."

Coliena clenches her jaw tightly before answering in a thick voice, "I bring him up here because it's more private and we can talk without being disturbed. I am -not- a Green, nor do I wish to be thought of like one. I am a Brown!" She bites on her lip hard and tries to calm herself.

Morillin laughs softly. "You state the obvious with such confidence," she mocks. "It seems we have had this discussion before. I dislike the way you associate with that man. What possible use can he have to you? We crushed his last spark of life when we gentled him, as he deserved."

Coliena clenches her fists, "No he did not. He did -not- deserve to have his life crushed. Yes, he can not channel, and that is good. But he is still -alive!- And I mean to keep him that way, Morillin!"

Morillin lifts her eyebrows in feigned surprise. "Of course we do, sister. He is harmless now, so there is no reason to kill him. Nonetheless, he is what he is."

Coliena turns away from Morillin so fast her hair flutters a little and walks over to the closet, "Morillin... He is now what he -was- anymore. He has been gentled. He is of -no harm- to anyone! He needs friends, he deserves friends, and since no one else in the Tower is willing to do it -I will be his friend!-" She takes a breath and tries to calm down somemore.

Morillin smooths her skirts with a small smile. "We may have removed his ability, Coliena, but we cannot remove the mark it left on him. Karaul is not an ordinary man now. He never can be that. If you persist with this ridiculous habit of seeing him as often as you do, the talk will continue."

Coliena narrows her eyes at the closet door she is facing, then turns around, "Morillin, you can go suck on a pigs tail. Karaul is my -friend.- And as I said before I will not abandon him or stop talking to him, or stop seeing him. You might as well tell me not to breath."

Morillin rises to her feet, still smiling. "What a quaint expression, Coliena. Not entirely suited to a woman of your age, though."

Coliena clenches her fists again until her knuckles are white and asks softly, "What do you mean by that, -sister?-

Morillin rests her hands on her hips. "Do calm yourself, Coliena. You're as excitable as a Novice."

Coliena clenches her fists more, "Well maybe you should begin to mind your own business, Morillin. My 'relationship' with Karaul is not your affair."

Morillin moves closer. "Oh, but it is, sister. I do not want the girls here watching a full Aes Sedai acting like an utter fool around a gentled man. Is that the sort of example you wish to give them?"

Coliena snorts and looks away before saying plainly, "It could also be that you are jealous. Perhaps you wish a man wanted to spend time around you. Karaul has told me he visits you at times."

Morillin tilts her head back and laughs. "Oh, sister, you have such an amusing sense of humour," she finally says, once she regains control of herself. "If I wanted a /man/..." Her lips twist with distaste around that word. "...to play with, I would have chosen Green, not Red. I talk with Karaul to try and understand his past affliction. Many other Reds have done the same since he came here. No, I think it is /you/ who is so very desperate for a man's company."

Coliena looks back at the Red for a long time, not saying anything, then does something... impulsive. She unclenches her fist and grabs a ink well off her desk nearby and throws it towards the other sister with every ounce of her strength, which isn't much.

Morillin embraces saidar in a heartbeat, grabbing the inkpot from the air with the Power almost as soon as you throw it at her. Hands still resting on her hips, she quirks an eyebrow. "I must have hit a nerve," she murmurs.

Coliena embraces the source as soon as you do, but does nothing with it. She takes quick breaths, calming down at least, "Morillin. Get out of my room and forget about me and Karaul. There are Greens tramping around the Tower with four Warders - go yell at them! There are -novices- right now running around with men. Go yell at them!"

Morillin says "Do you believe I would attack you with the Power, Coliena?"

Coliena shakes her head, but doesn't let go of the source anyway. "Morillin. I do not think I am setting a bad example for the students. How is caring, generosity, being helpful, a bad infulence? Aren't we supposed to teach them to do what is right? Karaul is a human being! Yes, he could channel, but he can't anymore. Why can't you understand that? When an Aes Sedai burns herself out she is not still an Aes Sedai, so why should he still be considered a male channeler?"

Morillin says coldly, "Karaul should have died, sister. He should have been gentled, and then put to death." She releases saidar, letting the inkpot fall to the floor. "Too many soft-hearted fools, such as yourself, voted to 'study' him, to spare his life and prolong his agony a thousand-fold. He suffers far more now than he would have if we had simply executed him. And he /is/ still seen as a man who can channel, or as close to such as we can have here. The Novices are all terrified of him."

Coliena shakes her head, still holding saidar, because it's the only thing keeping her even half calm. "Morillin... No one deserves to die. I should know... I've -felt- someone die! And I refuse to stand by and let Karaul - or anyone else! - die if I can prevent it."

Morillin says "As I said, Coliena, you are a fool. Some people /do/ deserve to die. For some, it's the best thing for them."

Coliena releases the source finally and moves closer to you, moving very slowly, "Karaul did nothing wrong. He was born with the ability to channel, yes. But it is not like he used it to level towns, or kill people. He used it to heal, Morillin. Heal! And he is not crazy..."

Morillin says "Have you ever spoken with a woman who has been stilled, Coliena?"

Coliena blinks and shakes her head, "No I have not, but I have talked to Karaul. Him, I know."

Morillin looks down at you, full of icy superiority. "I have, sister. She was Accepted here, until she burnt the ability out of herself. I was assigned to watch her for a month when I was Accepted myself. I watched her live in pain, Coliena. I watched her writhe and scream when she tried to reach for saidar and found nothing there. She died, eventually, as most of them do. But while she lived, she suffered. I think she deserved to die. I believe she had suffered enough. Karaul is much the same....I know, because I have also spoken with him."

Coliena shakes her head, "He is doing better, Morillin. I will continue to help him until he is dead, no matter what you say!" She looks upset enough that tears are starting to appear in her eyes.

Morillin shrugs. "You are killing him, Coliena, even as you try to help him. He suffers with every breath he draws. And you claim to be his friend?" She smiles, faintly, coldly. "It amuses me to see how mistaken you are. In saving his life, you have only given him pain. I wonder how happy that makes you now." Turning away, she steps back towards the door.

Coliena turns her head, watching you leave, then smiles, "You are wrong, Morillin. I believe that I am doing what is right. The more you and the others tell him he should die, the more he wants to and the more I have to counter what you all are doing. I give him hope, I give him respect, and yes, I even love him. And I don't care what you do, my Sister of the Red Ajah. I still think I am doing right."

Morillin turns, one hand on the doorknob. "Of course you do, Coliena. That is what makes you so pathetic." Then, opening the door, she steps out into the corridor.

Morillin leaves the room.

Coliena steps out of the door a moment later, "Morillin, I don't think we are finished yet."

Morillin turns, smiling. "Actually, Coliena, we are. Good eve to you." Then, turning her back, she glides towards her own rooms.

Thais walks quietly, carrying a few books, on her way to the library, most likely.Thais curtsies politely.

Coliena stands at the door to her room, staring towards the red section of the tower. She looks angry, and sad, and frustrated all at once. Upon noticing the Novice she grumbles under her breath and turns back into her room, slamming the door loudly.