Aaniely Dashinora




Aaniely Dashinora was born in Mayene, and from the time of her birth, she had been trained to act as one of the Second Ladies to the First. Her parents were the type of person that had not been born into wealth, or nobility, but they had earned it. They had never intended to have any children, feeling that they were too devoted to their own lives to be any sort of parent to a young child.

When Aaniely was born, their opinions were changed. From the beginning of her life, Aaniely was a perfect Mayener beauty. Her hair was long and dark, and he eyes were a sparkling bright blue. Her parents immediately fell in love with her. After all, who could resist such a beautiful child?

Although the child was pampered and spolied by friends, family, and even those that did not know her, it was no reflection on her character. Even under the age of ten, Aaniely was kind, generous, and a very willing little girl. Her parents tried to discourage such a thing, for they meant their daughter to become a Second Lady. Finally they gave up realizing that her disposition would only aid her in life, and it would be of no hindrance to the position that she was to later take.

Aaniely recieved the best schooling available and she did not only learn of lands and customs, but she was trained by private tutors in politics and self-defense.

There were many other things in Aaniely's life that she was required to fulfill, one of which was to find a husband with a good name to balance out her good fortune. Through all of her years in school, she never met one such man who fit the criteria that was laid down for her, until her fourteenth birthday.

His name was Marl Opensha, and he belonged to a family with a good name, although one that had fallen in hard times and was short of money. After Marl met her parents, Aaniely was granted their approval and her choice was decided. For a couple of years, Aaniely thrived under the love that she recieved from Marl, and the education from her tutors, until the day came that she was to be presented to the First.

Aaniely was dressed in her finest, and elegnat silk gown made in colours that highlighted and accented every bit of her. Her parents were present when she was presented to the First, to give conesent, although Aaniely was not actually going to be joining the First's other Second Lords and Ladies for some time. If she was first approved by the First, then she woulld go into more rigorous training that would prepare her for such a position.

The First sent her guards from the room and began the test. Finally, after asking many questions, the First decided that Aaniely was fit to become on of her Seconds, and the First was just about to give her blessing when Aaniely jumped a little. She had caught a bit of movement out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly, there was a mass of confusion, the Lords and Ladies present were screaming and shouting.

A man had somehow entered the room without the guards noticing, and he was heading straight for the First!

Without wasting a breath, Aaniely had jumped away from her parents, placing herself between the First and the unknown man. He grinned at Aaniely, obviously thinking her to be no more than one of the Ladies of the Court, if only much younger than most. But when he approached, Aaniely stood firm. The man reached out and grabbed the sleeve of her dress to throw her out of the way, but when he yanked, the sleeve came off.

Most of Aaniely's dresses had been designed like that, in case of a situation like the one she found herself in. Aaniely had surprised herself by thinking, 'I bet my dressmakers never thought that all of this work would ever be needed.'

Again, the man lunged at Aaniely, this time with a knife in one of his hands. With a flourish, Aaniely pulled out a pair of her own that she had hidden up her sleeves.

It is unknown how a girl of only sixteen accomplished such a thing, but Aaniely managed to get the would-be assailant pinned against the wall with one of her knives pressed to his throat, and the other imbedded into his arm.

The moment it was over, the Guards burst into the room and at a command from the First they took the man to the cells where he was to be questioned. Aaniely never got to learn what happened to him, or why he had been there.

The realization of what had just taken place had finally caught up to Aaniely and she slid down the wall to the floor, trembling with fear and still clutching one of her daggers.

The First spoke again, this time to Aaniely, "After that impressive display I have just witnessed, I see no reason why any more years should pass before you are admitted as a Second Lady. And if your family sees no objection, I should like to take you on almost immediately."

The door to the audience chamber banged open again and a tall regal woman strode in with a glow of the sun from the window in the hall, or so Aaniely thought. Squinting into the corridor, she saw no window, on the steady glow of a candle.

"You will not be taking her on as a Second!" commanded the woman. Instatntly, Aaniely knew that she must be the Aes Sedai advisor to the First, although she knew not how she could have decided such a thing. "That Child is being sent away immediately to Al'Har Aman, I felt her spark since almost the minute she entered here."

The few days that passed before she left for Al'Har Aman, Aaniely had no idea what had actually happened in them. The two things she remembered were the looks on her parents faces as she left, and the new set of Knives that had been a gift from the First, even though her advisor had told her Novices were not allowed to possess such things, to replace the one that had been lost.

While she was in the Tower, Aaniely never forgot about Marl, and when her three year as a novice and another four as Accepted were up, Aaniely Dashinora, Aes Sedai of the Gray Ajah, returned to Mayene to find him.

He was there, and she spent a year in his company. After only a few months of being in Mayene, Aaniely had bonded Marl as her Warder even though he had never trained in Al'Har Aman. They never married, as Aes Sedai seldom do, but on the day he died, Aaniely gave birth to their child. It was a girl, every bit as beautiful as Aaniely had been at her birth, and she was named Carinya after Marl's mother. For some reason, Carinya was always sick, and the small skill at Healing that Aaniely possessed was no use.

Finally, Aaniely decided to return to the White Tower with her duaghter, and she hoped the Yellows would be willing to Heal her. With the pain of the loss of her husband, and her Warder mingled inside her, Aaniely hurried towards Al'Har Aman. Somewhere on the way, Aaniely felt the last bit of life inside Carinya slip away, and she buried her daughter on a rise that overlooked a grove of trees.

Now Aaniely had to deal with the loss of husband, Warder and daughter, but she still pressed on to Al'Har Aman. Her original reason was gone, but there was always others why she would need to go. The woman was still Aes Sedai, though nothing like what she used to be. The woman would fake emotion to please others, but she rarely, if ever smiled, and there was a stormy expression on her face as she entered the walls of Al'Har Aman and the grounds that were shared by the White and Black Towers.