Chesa

Author: Kyria d'Oreyn

General

Chesa is Egwene's maid. She is plumply pretty and at least twice as old as Egwene (LoC, Ch. 36) with a touch of gray in her dark hair (TPoD, Ch. 16; CoT, Ch. 20), a twinkle in her eye, and a merry smile (ACoS, Ch. 8).

She is a stickler for proprieties (CoT, Ch. 20).

Timeline

• The night she is introduced to Egwene as the Amyrlin's maid, Chesa undoes Egwene's dress while Romanda comes to give Egwene some advice. Chesa is sent out of the room when Lelaine arrives to do the same thing (LoC, Ch. 36).

• The next morning, Chesa is setting a large pitcher of hot water on the wash-stand as Egwene wakes. She has also prepared breakfast and is careful not to look at the bruises Egwene received from the Wise Ones. Chesa discreetly advises her not to let anyone know of them. She brushes Egwene's hair and dresses her, before letting her go. She also puts two cushions on the chair in Egwene's study (LoC, Ch. 36).

• While Egwene is bathing, Chesa chatters and scrubs her back (LoC, Ch. 37).

• Chesa helps Egwene undress and tells her about the soft linen she acquired from an Altaran lady's maid (LoC, Ch. 52).

• After Moghedien is freed by Aran'gar, Egwene goes to examine her tent. Chesa chides her for being out in the night air when she could have simply sent her to fetch "Marigan." She is angry when Egwene tells her that the other woman might have run away (LoC, Epilogue).

• Chesa is darning stockings in Egwene's tent while she is conferring with her Keeper. Chesa doesn't know that Egwene lets her stay during her meetings with Sheriam because her chatter unsettles the former Blue. When Egwene wants to know from Sheriam about the Aes Sedai sent to the Tower as ferrets, she sends Chesa outside and the woman very nearly runs out of the tent. Later, when Egwene is outside, Chesa tells her night air is bad for her and complains about "Marigan" who has run away. She follows Egwene to Moghedien's tent, while nattering about her thanklessness and how to deal with that sort of people. After examining the tent, Egwene tells Chesa to get Leane and Siuan (ACoS, Ch. 8).

• She brings Egwene's lunch and tells her that Meri has disappeared. Later she wonders where Selame went (TPoD, Ch. 16).

• While preparations for a Sitting are made, Chesa brings Egwene and Siuan supper and heated bricks to tuck under their feet. She also advises Egwene not to eat too fast before leaving, and Siuan asks whether Egwene is sure Chesa hasn't been in her service since she was an infant (TPoD, Ch. 19).

• She follows Egwene on horseback in case she needs anything before the rebels and their army Travel to Tar Valon, muttering about Meri and Selame "having run off" (TPoD, Ch. 30).

• She is darning stockings when Egwene returns to her tent and chides the younger woman for not eating enough. She helps Egwene into a red robe and is pleased to see that she eats every crumb of her dinner. They briefly talk about Halima, before Egwene sends Chesa to her tent (CoT, Ch. 20).

• The next morning, Chesa brings Egwene's breakfast and helps her dress. When Nisao arrives, Egwene sends her maid outside (CoT, Ch. 20).

• She sits in Egwene's tent in case she needs errands run. When Nisao enters the tent, Egwene sends Chesa out again. At midday, she brings Egwene's lunch and is disappointed to find it untouched later. Egwene sends her away with the tray again. Before Egwene goes to turn Tar Valon's harbor chains to cuendillar, she tells Siuan to keep Chesa company until she returns (CoT, Ch. 30).

• After Egwene is captured by the Tower Aes Sedai, Chesa cannot stop weeping (KoD, Ch. 1; TGS, Ch. 25).

• The morning after Egwene is rescued, Chesa is the only attendant Egwene allows (TGS, Ch. 42)

Relationships

From their first meeting on, Chesa has treated Egwene with "the blend of respect and familiarity that could be expected of an old retainer" (LoC, Ch. 36). She is amiable towards Egwene and genuinely cares for her, like a mother or a friend (TPoD, Ch. 19). She always seems to know what Egwene needs and provides her with it, be it cushions on a chair or advice (LoC, Ch. 36). Sometimes, however, she means too well and can make Egwene feel guilty if she thinks the Amyrlin is not letting her care for her (LoC, Ch. 39). After Egwene is given another two maids, she thinks she could have done perfectly with Chesa alone (ACoS, Ch. 8). Egwene likes Chesa for being refreshing and uncomplicated (TPoD, Ch. 19). Chesa is disconsolate after Egwene's disappearance (KoD, Ch. 1).

She thinks Nildra and Kaylin are gossips (LoC, Ch. 36).

Despite having been given to Egwene by Sheriam, her loyalty is to the Amyrlin (LoC, Ch. 36). Egwene notices that Chesa's presence and her chattering unsettles Sheriam enough for Egwene to avoid the decisions that her Keeper wants to be made. Sheriam herself does not see why Egwene lets her maid be present at their meetings (ACoS, Ch. 8).

She thinks women who abandon their mistresses are a disgrace (LoC, Epilogue). When she learns "Marigan" might have run away, she lets Egwene know that she always said the "wicked woman [...] had a mean mouth and a sneaking eye" and that “Marigan” had no gratitude for Egwene after she took her in (ACoS, Ch. 8).

According to her, all Tairens carry their noses high and Selame is no exception. However, she does have what is required of a lady's maid and Chesa is positive she can settle her down with Meri. Chesa shares her tent with the two women (ACoS, Ch. 8). Selame treats the other two maids arrogantly (ACoS, Ch. 10). Chesa is exasperated when Meri disappears (TPoD, Ch. 16).

She doesn't like Halima and calls her a bad influence (TPoD, Ch. 16). She sounds scornful when talking about her, but she confesses that Halima makes her uneasy and she feels there is something not right about the woman. "It’s like feeling somebody sneaking up behind me, or realizing there’s a man watching me bathe." When Halima is around, Chesa ignores her (CoT, Ch. 20) and gives Egwene advice when she is not (CoT, Ch. 30).

Miscellaneous

• She would never mount a horse. She favors carts, as they are safer. According to her, "horses are wicked, untrustworthy beasts" (LoC, Ch. 36). Despite that, she rides a tubby mare when the rebels Travel to Tar Valon (TPoD, Ch. 30).

• She has heard several horrific stories about Ebou Dari fighting among themselves as well as with strangers (LoC, Ch. 39).

• Egwene sometimes lets Chesa sleep in her tent for company. She is also glad that one of the privileges that being Amyrlin entails is a tent of her own for the Amyrlin's maid (LoC, Ch. 52).

• She has a lot of advice in store and is always trying to slip it to Egwene while referring to herself (ACoS, Ch. 8).

• Although she knows no more than the surface of the currents around Egwene, she thinks all the plotting and scheming is fun. Egwene thinks this might change if she knew the depths of them (ACoS, Ch. 8).

• Chesa claims Egwene's headaches come from too little sleep (ACoS, Ch. 9), not eating enough and the cold. She tells Egwene to wear red shifts, because they are the warmest (CoT, Ch. 20).

• Chesa provides Egwene with enough clothes to fill three chests, because she thinks the Amyrlin has to be "clothed suitably for her station" (ACoS, Ch. 9).

• She likes plumed hats (ACoS, Ch. 10).

• When Bair startles Egwene in Tel'aran'rhiod, the young woman thinks that if this goes on, she will be jumping at Chesa's good morning next (ACoS, Ch. 8).

• She and Egwene's other two maids take turns serving her. Egwene is glad when it is Chesa's turn (ACoS, Ch. 11).

• She finds a sort of herb concoction for Egwene's headaches (CoT, Ch. 18). She got it from a peddler and claims it is good for headaches, joints, and belly upsets. No matter how ridiculous that claim sounds to her, Egwene thinks it helps (CoT, Ch. 20). She has a collection of herbal remedies for almost everything, "each viler-tasting than the last" (CoT, Ch. 30).

• She doesn't mind mending Egwene's clothes in front of her, but sorting out laundry would be overstepping the line in her book, just as eating before Egwene would be (CoT, Ch. 30).

Quotes

Just short of stout, with a twinkle in her eyes and a merry smile, Egwene’s maid was always trying to slip advice to the Amyrlin as though talking about herself. She could have been in Egwene’s service twenty years instead of less than two months, and three times as old as Egwene instead of barely twice. (Egwene; A Crown of Swords, Chapter 8)

“I’d jump right into bed, with hot bricks all around, if I was that chilled. As soon as I’d eaten, anyway. Warm outside does only so much good without warm inside. I’ll fetch a few extra bricks to tuck under your feet while you sup. And for Siuan Sedai, of course. Oh, if I was as hungry as you must be, I know I’d be tempted to gulp my food, but that always gives me pains in the stomach.” (Chesa to Egwene; The Path of Daggers, Chapter 19)

She was a pretty woman, without a touch of gray in her hair, yet sometimes it seemed that Chesa had been in her employ forever rather than just since Salidar. She certainly took all the liberties of an old servant, including the right to scold. (Egwene about Chesa; Crossroads of Twilight, Chapter 20)