Name: Calliste Lara le Fey
Age: 62
Origin: Arghos
Character History
I was born in Arghos, the second youngest in a family of six children. I have three older brothers, one older sister and one younger baby brother. My father owns a grain farm. My two oldest brothers work at the farm, Harg is married and he and his wife live near my parent's farm. My sister has gone to Andor, to become a servant at Court. And my mother wants me to join her. My baby brother is often sick and the Wisdom of the next village said he would probably not make it to become very old. My mother cries a lot about that, when she thinks nobody knows. My brothers and me work at the farm. They help my da with the grains and I help my mother with the chores and with Tristar the babe.
I have only one true friend, his name is Pherris, he is good looking, but doesn't know it himself, I have known him since we were just babes. He is only half a year older then me. But I am smarter, I know so! We used to love to run away and go up to the hills and lie in the high grass just looking at the sky. We would dream about what would become of us. Pherris always joked about me becoming married to some soldier and then I would have even more children then my mother had, and I would loose my husband in war. When I got angry at him, he told me that was the point where he would come in and take care of me and my nine children. Then we would just laugh and stay looking at the sky. Until the sun would set and we would have to run home to be in time for supper. He only had one older brother who became a soldier in the army of Andor. He and his family never heard anything about him and his father wanted Pherris to go to the army as well and find his brother.
One day my mother came to my room very early in the morning, I had just woken up and I was dressing myself. She had a worried look on her face and I could tell from her eyes that she had not slept well. She had to take care of Tristar, who cried a lot at night. "Calliste, your sister has sent me a letter, telling me she has found a place for you. You can work for an important family, you can make some money and become a civil girl at the same time." I remember looking at her in disgust. I wanted to stay in our village, I loved my family, the village and the farm. She then left and went to make the first meal for my brother's and father. I sat there, not knowing what to do. Then I decided to go to Pherris, and ask him what he thought about it.
"Calliste, I have to tell you something," he begun when I met him near his house, apparently he was just on his way over to see me, "my father has told me to go to Andor, to become a soldier in the army." His eyes looked red and swollen, he had cried, but would never admit it. "I will have to leave within two days, I can travel with a small group of merchants who are heading for Andor." "But, then you might never come back, oh…and I have to become a servant in Andor, to work for a rich and civilized family." He smiled and hugged me, "then at least we won't have to say goodbye now, you can travel with me to Andor." I nodded and laughed.
We left two days later, I cried when I hugged Tristar, but I quickly whipped my tears away when my father looked at me. He hugged me, then turned and walked to the barn, I looked after him, then turned to my mother. "Calliste Lara le Fey, make your family proud of you, my child," my mother whispered in my ear. Then she left to go in the house and put Tristar back to bed. I turned and went towards the group of five merchants, with two soldiers and Pherris waiting for me. I got on my horse, my father had spent a lot of money on a good horse, I named him Tristar, and hoped my baby brother would make it through his disease, so I would see him again one day.
We travelled for days, most of which I spent talking to Pherris, at night he spoke with the two soldiers and I set near the fire, looking at all the special things the merchants traded in. One of them sold jewellery and special stone. He gave me one, when he saw me cry the first night. He told me it would help me to be strong and face difficult things that were ahead. I smiled and put it in my pocket. I looked at it often; it is very nice, blood red with only one black line through it. Pherris and me tried to avoid what was getting closer each day, our final goodbye. We never talked about it, for us it was far ahead and we tried not to think about it either. One evening one of the soldiers came to sit next to me by the fire. "You know, after tomorrow you won't ever see your friend again, Caemlyn is by that horizon, we will reach it before the sun sets tomorrow." I looked at the horizon and saw the tops of the city in the distance. I nodded at him and then got up and walked over to Pherris. "Tomorrow is our last day together, then we reach our destination, that soldier just told me." He only looked at me and then took my hand. I sat down next to him and he looked away from me. "Yes, that soldier, his name is Rowin, asked me if we were to be married in our village, I said no, but I think I would have wanted to if I, we would have stayed in Arghos." I looked into his big blue eyes that looked pale. Not like when he smiled, then they were dark as the evening sky with bright lights in them.
I did not know what to say, so we just sat there in silence. The next day we went on to Caemlyn and he only looked at me at our goodbye. My throat felt thick and I had trouble keeping my tears in, I did not wanted to let go of him, but we had no choice. I got to work for a man and women who had no children. I don't know exactly what he did, his wife was always at home, bossing around her servants. She hit those who did not do what she wanted as fast as she wanted them to work. She hit me quite often, because nobody warned me about her. After a few weeks I heard from one of the cooks that the girl who worked with them before me, got hit so badly, she almost died and could not work anymore. After I heard that, I only wanted to get away. My only problem was I did not know where to go. Then my answer came…
There were two guests that evening, a lord and a lady, so everything had to be perfect. The lady of the house hit me twice for not dusting her furniture quickly enough. That night, I saw a beautiful woman step in, she had a sort of agelessness over her face, and she wore a beautiful white dress of silk and a grey shawl. The lord with her looked tough, as if he were constantly watching everything. She stopped to look at me and smiled briefly at me, I did not know what was expected of me, so I smiled back at her. She looked at me, then walked on without a glimpse. The lord never even seemed to notice my presence. The lord of the house had come in just before his guests arrived and he welcomed them both into the dinner room. The lady walked to the kitchen to check everything and then went back to her guests. They had a meal, and I got some rest in the kitchen, with two other servants, they were not summoned, so we could all eat in quietness. After almost three hours the lady of the house came to the kitchen, with a pale face and eyes like stone. She told me to follow her and so I did. We went to the dinner sale and she told me to stand there and be quiet. I did that, actually I cannot believe I found a way to breathe, the way they were all looking at me. Then the lady in the white dress spoke. "Mistress Agate and I have agreed that you will come with me, you will be my servant." I looked at the lady of the house, stunned and without a word. She did not look back, she only sat there. I nodded and felt a bit relieved, this beautiful woman could never treat me any worse than the Mistress Agate had done. I left with them the next morning.
The woman introduced herself to me as Lady Quintesse, and her lord as Lord Marghin. We travelled for many days, much more than I had travelled with Pherris and the merchants. Lady Quintesse never told me what her plans were, she almost never spoke to me on our journey and never had me do anything more then answer a few questions about my home village, my family and my age. Until one day we reached Tar Valon, and I got introduced to the White Tower. Now, I understand I am here to become a Novice, which I understand is a lot like being a servant. Only you receive training and lessons. I hope I will do well, so I won't have to go back to Mistress Agate.
Short bio since leaving the White Tower as a young Aes Sedai and now returned to the White Tower.
Calliste Sedai received letters from her family at home that her mother had fallen ill, Calliste had 2 younger brothers and a younger sister who could not yet take the care over the farm and take care of the sick mother. Calliste decides to leave her Ajah for a while and take care of her family, she leaves with pain in her heart but she knows it’s the only right path to choose. As she is unbounded, she hugs her sisters goodbye and swears to set foot on the Tower grounds soon again. It takes her a very long journey to find her way home, once there she finds her mother has passed away already. The farm is cold and empty. Her eldest brother has married a young woman and left the farm, her younger brother and sister are trying to keep the farm running themselves. Calliste takes them by the hand and uses what money she has to restore the farm and buy new seeds to plant on their lands. She works side by side with her brother and sister for many years, they have good summers and very cold winters, but through the hardship Calliste feels a stronger pain then the one in her hands. She misses her Sisters and her training days at the White Tower, she misses flirting with warders, having long talks over mint tea and the journeys to help her Sisters in their battles against shadowspawn. So, as her brother and sister get older and are willing to start their own families, she leaves her brother in charge at the farm and rides on a family horse back to the White Tower. It takes her about 2 months to find her way back as she is no longer used to travelling and is alone. She may be an Aes Sedai, since she left the tower in an old traveller’s cloak she has not resembled her old self anymore. She wonders if the Sisters of the Green Ajah will still recognise her and sets her mind to getting back there real soon and finding her place in the Ajah once again.
The day Calliste sets foot again in the Tower is a day she will not soon forget, a lot of the Sisters are working hard or talking or are in meetings. Calliste feels alienated and starts looking for a familiar face. As she walks into the Green quarters she is suddenly grabbed and hugged by an old friend Sirayn Sedai. “Hey Calliste, I thought I recognised your face!” Calliste breaks open in a smile when she sees Siryan and is so happy that she doesn’t need to introduce herself. Later on she thinks that was quite a silly thought of hers, since friends and Sisters don’t forget about each other so easily. Calliste settles back in and as days go by she meets up the new novices and feels like that little missing link has finally been restored.