Chapter Text
Stern Maigan barreled from the dining car with a folder full of timetables and very nearly crushed Siuan against the train exit door.
"What was that?" Leane asked with concern on the other end of the phone. "Is everything okay?"
Straightening herself and securing her earbuds in place, Siuan retreated out of the passageway to the opposite end of the platform between cars and leaned against the wall facing the luggage rack. The train was one of those old models that had been built too sturdy thirty years ago and that even newer, sleeker trains had not been able to kick out. To Siuan's eyes the cars were grey, perpetually cold and at the moment half empty.
But people were still bumping into her.
"Yes, just the train conductor making her rounds," Siuan grumbled, fingers to the bridge of her nose. "Showing us yet again how mad she thinks we are taking the train in this weather."
Leane hummed pensively.
"Well, if they wanted to cancel the train because of the snow, they could have before you left Jehannah. No need to terrorize passengers because they messed up."
Siuan half-laughed, half-sighed before craning her neck and peeking through the window located on the left exit door.
"Believe me, I get the appeal of scaring away the little fish to relieve stress," she absently muttered as she squinted at the landscape, hand up to shield her from the low sun. "I'm not used to being one of the minnows, is all."
Outside, the blue outline of the Mountains of Mist stretched languidly above the Forest of Shadows. It didn't quite live up to its name at the moment. The snow had fallen so thick over the Andoran range that the trees covered in snow were blazing in the late afternoon light. The endless stretches of snow and the nascent mist near the tree line flattened the landscape as if perspective itself was warped. The sparse —for now— snowfall wasn't helping.
Light, she hated altitude. Sea level was the highest she was comfortable at.
Yet here she was stuck in the far reaches of Andor because bloody Vandene Namelle had wanted to show off as soon as possible her latest acquisition. An invaluable late etching by Ishamael that she didn't agree to lend to the White Tower museum, obviously.
"The train hasn't picked up speed again, so I guess we're going to reach Baerlon by midnight, if ever we reach it and—"
"Siuan, I'll see what we can do about your flight home," Leane eased her. The sound of drawers opening and closing could be heard on her end. "Just make sure you use that time to finalize the proposal for Ms. Namelle so we can discuss it with Sheriam when you arrive. We need her support so bad I might get on my knees and kiss the floor before her."
"As much as it would delight me to see that, I can reassure you the old gal only needs Murandian wine on the Taraboner coast and an audience for far too many lectures about incunabulum to be swayed. Which doesn't even seem that drab now that I'm freezing my gills here."
"Just a sec. I need to grab –" Leane trailed off into inaudible muttering before forgetting to put Siuan on hold and resuming her search.
Leaning back against the wall, Siuan repressed a shiver and pulled her brown coat tight around her. Though the hood was tastefully rimmed with fur, the thing was far too flimsy for the climate, but then she had about two hours more in the train than anticipated and her journey wasn't over yet.
Flying back from Ebou Dar to Tar Valon had stopped being an option the moment she got Vandene's call last minute. Naturally, the eccentric art collector would not meet her anywhere but in her secluded villa near Samara. After a very short stay, Siuan figured the train to Baerlon via Jehannah would allow her to catch the direct flight to Tar Valon rather than travel down to Ebou Dar's aiport.
Rookie mistake.
The roundabout trip hadn't been completely fruitless as Siuan did obtain from Vandene that she gave the White Tower museum some pieces for a future Mayene exhibition as well as her generous continued patronage, but Siuan was tired to the bone.
She'd spent one week before in Amador running from parties to private exhibitions, courting patrons and curators alike. The visit to one of their most bullish yet important donors had finished her off.
And she had a meeting with the Culture board of Tar Valon in a few days to discuss funding for the White Tower. Last chance before everything would get shut down for the Feast of Lights.
An attractive couple briskly crossed the platform to get to the next car. Siuan followed with envy the pretty brunette in green who managed to look both elegant and prepared for the cold temperature. Her companion, a tall dark-skinned man was as well-equipped but more sober in appearance.
On the phone, Leane seemed to have stopped rummaging through her desk — Siuan couldn't believe she knew exactly which drawer she'd opened last— and the silence didn't bode well for Siuan.
"I'd advise a different approach given what happened to the Karatheon collection," Leane observed almost nonchalantly.
Any other time, Siuan could take her deputy director's straightforward disagreement. In fact, she needed Leane to be straightforward in all things. But the travelling and constant socializing was taking its toll, leaving her a husk on the seafloor.
"If Vandene was as much in your pockets as you said she is, we would have landed the Karatheon exhibition, not the Sun Palace. Seaine was asking for you and you were Light knows where in Andor trying to woo Vandene."
Siuan tsked before pushing herself off the wall and looking around her for another irruption of the dreadfully tempered Maighan.
Instead, another man —blond hair, athletic build— hurriedly made his way to the car where the conductor was. The path cleared, she started walking around the small space of the platform to move her legs.
"Vandene's support was never the issue and you know that. The Trakand, the old Green, we need them as reliable sponsors. So when I am not home, you are supposed to be my eyes and ears at the museum, and occasionally mouth, yes. You're not here to babysit my position. I expect you to make certain decisions like ward Seaine off and rule in my place. Behave accordingly."
Over the line, Siuan heard Leane bristle.
"Siuan, respectfully, you’re not my mother."
"And you’re not my keeper, Leane," Siuan snapped.
The volume of her own voice had taken her by surprise in the cramped empty space, and she peeked around the corridor through the glass door to her car for fear she'd attracted Maighan's attention. Luckily, the conductor was busy talking with some passengers on the other end of the car.
"You do not need to lecture me on how to handle patrons and collaborators. We're on a knife's edge here, I know."
"Then show me you can manage them without shutting me out. While you’re wining and dining – for the museum, you do not need to remind me – you're not at the Tower and I am getting hounded by your detractors. I don't know what you plan!"
It was Siuan's turn to balk at Leane.
A middle-aged woman with a younger woman far too similar to her not to be her daughter cut off Siuan's path as she was pacing, rushing as well to the next car.
With petulant emphasis, Siuan shoved her shoulders against the see-through wall facing the restaurant, hoping people would let her lose her mind in private.
"Are you implying Elaida is vying for my position? Because I know Elaida is vying for my position, everyone knows it!" Siuan sniffed with irritation. "The janitors know. The attendants know. The student visiting groups know it at this point. Come to see our Thelamon collection and Graendal sculptures. Stay for the infighting between the entire classical department and the administration."
Leane scoffed and Siuan wished the train would crash and get buried in the snow. Let her sleep, let her hear nothing for a while. It seemed some passengers were arguing in the car nearby.
"You don't consider her a threat to you?" Leane deadpanned.
"Oh, she's a threat to me." Siuan was clear-eyed about Elaida's ambition and her overt detestation of the Tower's current management. "Yet, she isn't to the museum, which is the key. She won't threaten everything we've been doing these past years. She wants the recognition."
Siuan had failsafes. Let Elaida raise up an army against her, if she could, and Siuan wasn't convinced the bitter classicist had the legs to carry her own ambition.
In truth, Siuan made sure that the changes she was introducing to the Tower would remain, grow roots in Tar Valon, even after her departure from the museum. There were other places she could get a position, perhaps as a curator rather than director. Although Siuan had made her life in Tar Valon now, she was more than ready to go back to her hometown near the sea.
Maybe take a sabbatical to spend precious time with her dad, or simply go exploring.
She longed for the times when she could roam the streets of a little town, finding its historic heart and hunting its past down narrow passageways and odd stony faces above forgotten doors. She could spend hours as a student contemplating the serene and simple beauty of temples and bridges in the unassuming towns she travelled through.
Of course, her lamentation didn't hold up when she was crossing the spectacular relief of west Andor at a leisurely pace and couldn't spare a glance.
Were they going even slower than before?
"Look, Siuan…" Leane sounded worried for her, almost.
Worry, Siuan could stomach, but if Leane displayed pity, Siuan would truly get angry.
"I can hear you thinking, and I hate when you do it alone, because you always end up with solutions that are way too extreme."
"That's an understatement given how we handled the Red's rebellion last time."
The White Tower was known for the way it ascribed colours to each department and one day the classical team had just decided it would take over everyone else and impose a camaïeu of reds and oranges.
Not Siuan's finest hour, but her display in the Hall had put an end to the ridiculous notion.
"We just need to present the budget outline to Sheriam as soon as possible and face the board before everything shuts down for the Feast of Lights, without Elaida sabotaging us. We, as a team. For now, you only have to keep me informed about when you're going to reach Baerlon."
Leane was right. She often was when it came to seeing the bigger picture.
"Of course." Siuan exhaled loudly and closed her eyes briefly. "Could you get a hold of Tsutama at least? See if she has any inkling about what stunt Elaida might pull at the meeting. Don't scare her off. Behave."
"Will do, Mother."
Siuan rolled her eyes but could not help smiling privately.
Leane and Siuan had been through hell and back together. Young scholars with their BA under their belt, they had stepped into the art world ready to change it, but after nearly twenty years navigating administrative waters full of reef, they had settled for merely ruling their little world at the White Tower museum.
One of the biggest in the Westlands no less.
Yet, the passion that had animated them had gradually turned briny, leaving them estranged from their own dreams of shattering old rules.
With time, Leane had become more colleague than friend, although Siuan could not imagine her life without her. The growing distance was felt particularly in those moments when Siuan needed lightness, a friend more than a comrade in arms.
Frowning, Siuan realised she couldn't feel the train swaying, not even a little.
The train had definitely stopped.
"Call you back later. We're not moving anymore and we're nowhere near a station."
"Text me when you know more,“ Leane concluded, already on the move in her office.
Hanging up, Siuan headed straight to the next car where she'd spotted the conductor. A small crowd had gathered in the middle of the car, with Maigan's hat barely standing out inside the cluster of supplicants.
With a quick glance to her seat to check if her water bottle and travel bag were still there, Siuan pushed through toward the conductor, elbowing people left and right to get closer.
A bald woman behind her was going on in mangled Old Tongue over the phone about delays and hotels.
Fish guts.
"Excuse me, what is going on here?" Siuan called out to the conductor between the blond man from before and the pretty brunette arguing with him.
Maigan had the long-suffering look of someone who had repeated the same information over and over again. With her folder that had bloomed with even more papers, she looked like a scorpionfish dragged from under her rock.
"Snowslide upstream. Trees fallen on the tracks." In her defense, Maigan's tone was more reassuring than her words. "We hoped to reach our destination before the snowstorm hit, but the weather knows no master in these parts. We are taking note of everyone's destination to see what options we can offer. We might be able to push through to Taren Ferry, but no further. Where are you going, ma'am?"
The string of curse words Siuan internally launched at the Creator would have not gotten her on Maigan's good side.
"Baerlon."
The conductor's face twitched imperceptibly.
"You're outta luck, ma'am. Baerlon's the station after Taren." She seemed to consider Siuan for a few moments, as if gauging her reaction. "We had to stop because they are switching us to another track so we can reach Taren, but we'll resume our journey soon. I will get back to you once I've heard from the train station there. Please, return to your seat in the meantime."
Someone pushed Siuan aside to reach the conductor, yet she didn't bother cursing them out. The unassuming long cobalt coat and streamlined backpack spelt money and she had no desire to get into a fight with a crayfish.
Walking back to her seat, she checked the position of Taren Ferry on her phone, despite the sluggish connection. It wasn't that far from Baerlon, and perhaps the train company would provide a bus ride to the city. After all, she was supposed to take a shuttle to get to Baerlon's airport.
Wishful thinking.
The roads were probably all snowed in and it looked like it had started coming down heavily again.
Her endurance wasn't so bad. She would have chanced walking to Baerlon if nightfall wasn't coming fast and if she had any chance of catching the last flight to Tar Valon. Taren Ferry didn't seem to be that big either, at most a couple of buildings around the ferry. With luck, there would at least be an inn to stay for the night.
Resigned, she texted Leane about the new development, although she had no clue where she would stay.
She sat back against the seat with a sigh. So much for hoping to gain a day by getting around Garen's Wall through the north.
The rude woman who had shoved her before was still in full discussion with Maigan. The conductor seemed puzzled, which was an improvement over irritation. When Maigan was called by one of her colleagues over her phone, the pretty brunette from before caught the stranger by the elbow and started talking with her.
Leane's answer lit the screen.
Noted. Keep me updated.
Siuan read the words and considered if it was worth it to work on Vandene's paper now, tired as she was. She could stay stranded for longer than anticipated, which meant more time to draft the proposal when she was more rested. It was tempting.
Allowing herself to rest, to be carried by the current for once rather than fighting it.
A voice made her look up.
It was the rude woman. She had moved up the alley toward Siuan's spot and was currently standing a few seats up. Turned away from Siuan, she was still exchanging politely with the pretty but sensible brunette, who in turn gestured with passion.
She had an attractive voice, wispy like chimes. Siuan had barely registered the stranger was a white woman with dark hair when she passed her before, but something in her voice felt familiar.
Not enough for her to place it exactly, but it obviously triggered something.
The cut of her clothes was expensive, which pointed to a million stuck-up carps Siuan kept company with. The hair, long brown waves gathered in a loose bun at the base of her neck, didn't give away any clue.
From what Siuan could overhear, the two women were chatting about the railway network in Salidar, agreeing it wasn't what it used to be.
Suddenly, the train speaker sputtered before Maigan's thick accent filled the car.
"Connection to Alcruna through the pass from the Forest of Shadows station will be maintained in 10 minutes. The two passengers going to Baerlon will have to report to the Taren Ferry train station chief once we've arrived. If you have any more questions, me and Sarene will be in the dining car to direct you."
Maigan started going on about financial compensation, but Siuan wasn't listening.
The woman had turned her head to pay closer attention to the announcement and her face was sharply hit by the train’s cold light. A wave of memory engulfed Siuan, so strong it knocked the wind out of her.
Her phone fell in her lap, the screen lighting up.
She never forgot a face, and this particular one she hadn't seen in thirty years.
But the name came to the surface faster than the end of her line when she had a catch.
Moiraine.