Rayenia is the eldest daughter of five children. She has three older brothers and one younger sister, Jasmyne. While her brothers hold the look of her father, she is the mirror reflection of her mother - slender and of average height, vibrant auburn hair and velvety tawny eyes and a near hourglass figure. At the age of three Rayenia had a little sister with curly locks of golden hair and lovely chipped ice eyes. Rayenia would not discover until she was older, nine years old, that her "uncle", Kiel Demeter, was truly Jasmyne's father. It didn't matter to her whom was the father of Jasmyne, she was her blood, her sister, and that was all that mattered to her.
Rayenia was tutored by a woman whom she was convinced was a creation of something foul wrapped up in wrinkled skin with silver hair wound into a tight bun as if the pull would make the woman look a decade or two younger. The woman was her tutor and prior to her she tutored her mother, Regina, so you know this woman was old. Rayenia was taken into her tulage at the age of five when she began learning the simpler lessons, her letters and the like. She was six when Narissa passed on in her sleep and oh how her older brothers teased her so since they had heard how she wished for the old woman to simply go away and then one day it happened. Gideon explained, as did Kiel, that the woman was old and she had simply returned to the Mother's Embrace and her thoughts and words had nothing to do with it. By the loving words of her Father and "Uncle" she accepted this and in two weeks time she was introduced to her new tutor, Lianelle.
Lianelle was young for a tutor but she contained a wealth of knowledge which seemed to fascinate Rayenia. She learned the intricacies of the secret language of fans, poetry, falconry, riding and courtly dances, it's even rumored that Lianelle, an Ambassador to be of House Bashere knew the sa'sara! Lianelle became a confidant to Rayenia as well as a valuable teacher. Lianelle took Rayenia, with permission of her Mother and Father of course, on small trips to Maradon and the other Capital-Jewel-Cities of the Borderland Nations, giving her a look into the way each court worked, the customs and the justice of each land. But, not all of Rayenia's time was spent in Lianelle's tulage, she had time to spend with her sister Jasmyne when she was not learning her lessons herself. She did feel a bit of jealousy that she wasn't allowed to study with Jasmyne with their "Uncle" but the time she was able to spend with the pair of them made up for the miniscule slight that she had felt.
Oh the whispers that ran about the Houses of Aes Sedai and how one would be visiting. Rayenia, being of the curious sort, now fifteen, asked to be allowed to be present should the Aes Sedai deign their household fitting to visit. With a reluctant nod from her mother, Regina, agreed. The Aes Sedai was beautiful, as if she lived outside of time, clad in a lovely mother-of-pearl silken gown with scintillating embroidery about the cuffs, hem, and high-collar. The Aes Sedai did come but she was not forthcoming with why she was visiting.
She stayed for three days and during this time she spoke with Rayenia to great length, quizzing her on what knowledge she had retained as well as guiding her gently through some preliminary mental exercises. Little did Rayenia know she was being tested for the spark by the Ageless woman. All she knew is she felt warmer after she did as she was instructed, envisioning the lovely rose upon the verdant field in spring that bloomed as the life-giving sun rose in the sky. It was hard for her to allow the flower to close in her mind's-eye but with firmer guidance from the Aes Sedai, the flower closed. She was then handed to a maid in the house and instructed to rest until dinner. Where the Aes Sedai went from there it is hard to tell for Rayenia was too tired to look.
It was at dinner that night that the Aes Sedai informed the whole family that Rayenia held the spark, that she could channel and should return with her to the White Tower immediately to begin her schooling with the One Power as well as a few other subjects which the child would need in her life. Mother and Father excused themselves from the table for a moment leaving the children to stare at each other blankly in the presence of the Aes Sedai. Jasmyne at the time was too young and the spark had not manifested itself within her, yet. When Mother and Father came back to the table which was only minutes though it felt like hours, they agreed with the Aes Sedai that Rayenia would leave in the morning for Tar Valon. Rayenia didn't want to go but at the same time she did, she could learn of another place and Lianelle had told her stories of the Aes Sedai, of their Pristine Tower and of the library that is held within.
After the Aes Sedai retired to bed Rayenia snuck into her sisters room and with luck Jasmyne was not asleep yet. The two talked for near to an hour, a few tears were shed but a promise was made that night that would bring these two closer in the years to come, they just did not know it yet. Rayenia finally made it back to her bed where she slept quite peacefully. In the morning she awoke and left right after breakfast with the Aes Sedai. This would be the last time that Rayenia saw any of her family until she was nineteen.
Rayenia was inducted into the White Tower as a novice and would spend some seven years in novice-white. At the age of twenty Rayenia learned that her younger sister, Jasmyne, was brought to the Tower, she was sixteen. The two talked when they could, which we all know how novices talk. Rayenia didn't mind so much the lessons and lectures she attended, the chores were.... there but she hated the silent study of the Tower. One night, reaching into her seventh year as a novice placing her at twenty-two years of age, she was brought down to the Arches where she faced her Accepted Test. The Test is a moment of clarity for all who enter and survive the three trials, and when Rayenia emerged from the final arch she was a changed young woman.
She would spend seven more years within the banded dress of an Accepted, during this time Rayenia helped to teach her little sister while also attending to her own lessons. One thing was discovered, she was able to think things out clearly before coming to a decision which helped her out more than she'd realize until she would be raised. She had placed herself in the role of a mediator, a peace-keeper of sorts when the Accepted would bicker and fight, and it was something she excelled at.
Rayenia was twenty-nine when she swore the Three Oaths upon the Oath Rod before the Dawning Pool and welcomed into the Gray Ajah. She spent twelve years learning from the older sisters of the Gray Ajah, the Houses and how they play in the Game, the Laws of the lands which were the same and which ones were different. During her twelve years she'd even gone with one of the Gray Sisters who was an advisor in the South where a trade negotiation needed the aide of the White Tower to end it peacefully. Rayenia watched and learned and even was allowed to speak in the debate. Again Rayenia had lost contact with her younger sister Jasmyne during her time however, she did learn that the golden-haired woman was raised and had chosen the Yellow. She never understood why she chose yellow but, it was not her place to question either. What she did question is why Jasmyne left the Tower alone having just been raised. She searched for information on her Sister, of blood and of Oath, had left. Once she was able to Rayenia set forth on a search for Jasmyne, a search that would not end until she is forty-one where she finds her Sister of the Yellow looking quite different.
Rayenia Deanne Sidona
- Aes Sedai of the Grah Ajah
