Wheel Of Time - The Path Of Daggers Part 3

Beginnings

Holding his furlined cloak close with one hand, Perrin let Stayer walk at the bay's own pace. The midmorning sun gave no warmth, and the rutted snow on the road leading into Abila made poor footing. He and his dozen companions shared the way with only two lumbering oxcarts and a handful of farmfolk in plain dark woolens. They all trudged along with heads down, clutching at hat or cap whenever a gust rose but otherwise concentrating on the ground beneath their shoes.Behind him, he heard Neald make a ribald joke in a low voice; Grady grunted in reply, and Balwer sniffed prissily. None of the three seemed at all affected by what they had seen and heard this past month since crossing the border into Amadicia, or by what lay ahead. Edarra was sharply berating Masuri for letting her hood slip. Edarra and Carelle both wore their shawls wrapped around their heads and shoulders in addition to cloaks, but even after admitting the necessity to ride, they had refused to change out of their bulky skirts, so their darkstockinged legs were bared above the knee. The cold did not seem to bother them in the least; just the strangeness of snow. Carelle began quietly advising Seonid as to what would happen if she did not keep her face hidden.Of course, if she let her face be seen too soon, a dose of the strap would be the least she had to fear, as she and the Wise One knew well. Perrin did not have to look back to know the sisters' three Warders, bringing up the rear in ordinary cloaks, were men expecting the need at any moment to out sword and carve a way clear. They had been that way since leaving the camp at dawn. He ran a gloved thumb along the axe hanging at his belt, then regathered his own cloak just before a sudden gust could make it billow. If this went badly, the Warders might be right.Off to the left, short of where the road crossed a wooden bridge over a frozen stream that twisted along the town's edge, charred timbers thrust out of the snow atop a large square stone platform with drifts piled around the bottom. Slow to proclaim allegiance to the Dragon Reborn, the local lord had been lucky merely to be flogged and fined all that he possessed. A knot of men standing at the bridge watched the mounted party approaching. Perrin saw no sign of helmets or armor, but every man clutched spear or crossbow almost as hard as he did his cloak. They did not talk to one another. They just watched, the mist of their breath curling before their faces. There were other guards bunched all around the town, at every road leading out, at every s.p.a.ce between two buildings. This was the Prophet's country, but the Whitecloaks and King Ailron's army still held large parts of it."I was right not to bring her," he muttered, "but I'll pay for it anyway.""Of course you'll pay," Elyas snorted. For a man who had spent most of the last fifteen years afoot, he handled his mousecolored gelding well. He had acquired a cloak lined with black fox, dicing with Gallenne. Aram, riding on Perrin's other side, eyed Elyas darkly, but the bearded man ignored him. They did not get on well. "A man always pays sooner or later, with any woman, whether he owes or not. But I was right, wasn't I?"Perrin nodded. Grudgingly. It still did not seem right taking advice about his wife from another man, even circ.u.mspectly, obliquely, yet it did seem to be working. Of course, raising his voice to Faile was as hard as not raising it to Berelain, but he had managed the last quite often and the first several times. He had followed Elyas' advice to the letter. Well, most of it. As well as he could. That spiky scent of jealousy still flared at the sight of Berelain, yet on the other hand, the hurt smell had vanished as they made their slow way south. Still, he was uneasy. When he firmly told her she was not coming with him this morning, she had not raised a single word of protest! She even smelled... pleased! Among other things, including startled. And how could she be pleased and angry at the same time? Not a sc.r.a.p of it had showed on her face, but his nose never lied. Somehow, it seemed that the more he learned about women, the less he knew!The bridge guards frowned and fingered their weapons as Stayer's hooves thudded hollowly onto the wooden planking. They were the usual odd mix that followed the Prophet, dirtyfaced fellows in silk coats too big for them, scarfaced street toughs and pinkcheeked apprentices, former merchants and craftsmen who looked as if they had slept in their once fine woolens for months. Their weapons appeared well cared for, though. Some of the men had a fever in their eyes; the rest wore guarded, wooden faces. Along with unwashed, they smelled eager, anxious, fervent, afraid, all jumbled together.They made no move to bar pa.s.sage, just watched, hardly blinking. By what Perrin had heard, all sorts from ladies in silks to beggars in rags came to the Prophet hoping that submitting to him in person might gain added blessings. Or maybe added protection. That was why he had come this way, with only a handful of companions. He would frighten Masema if he had to, if Masema could be frightened, but it had seemed better to try reaching the man without fighting a battle. He could feel the guard's eyes on his back until he and the others were all across the short bridge and onto the paved streets of Abila. When that pressure left, though, it brought no sense of relief.Abila was a goodly sized town, with several tall watch towers and many buildings rising four stories, every last one roofed in slate. Here and there, mounded stone and timbers filled a gap between two structures where an inn or some merchant's house had been pulled down. The Prophet disapproved of wealth gained by trade as much as he did carousing or what his followers called lewd behavior. He disapproved of a great many things, and made his feelings known with sharp examples.The streets were jammed with people, but Perrin and his companions were the only ones on horseback. The snow had long since been trampled to halffrozen ankledeep mush. Plenty of oxcarts made their slow way through the throng, but very few wagons, and not a single carriage. Except for those wearing worn castoffs or possibly stolen clothes, everyone wore drab woolens. Most people hurried, but like the folk on the road, with heads down. Those who did not hurry were straggling groups of men carrying weapons. In the streets, the smell was mainly dirt and fear. It made Perrin's hackles rise. At least, if it came to that, getting out of a town with no wall would not prove harder than getting in."My Lord," Balwer murmured as they came abreast of one of those heaps of rubble. He barely waited for Perrin's nod before turning his hammernosed mount aside and making his way in another direction, hunched in his saddle with his brown cloak held tight around him. Perrin had no worries about the driedup little man going off alone, even here. For a secretary, he managed to learn a surprising amount on these forays of his. He seemed to know what he was about.Dismissing Balwer from his thoughts, Perrin set to what he was there about.It took only one question, put to a lanky young man with an ecstatic light on his face, to learn where the Prophet was staying, and three more to other folk in the streets to find the merchant's house, four stories of gray stone with white marble moldings and window frames. Masema disapproved of grubbing for money, but he was willing to accept accommodations from those who did. On the other hand, Balwer said he had slept in a leaky farmhouse as often and been as satisfied. Masema drank only water, and wherever he went, he hired a poor widow and ate the food she prepared, fair or foul, without complaint. The man had made too many widows for that charity to count far with Perrin.The throng that packed the streets elsewhere was absent in front of the tall house, yet the number of armed guards like those at the bridge almost made up for it. They stared at Perrin sullenly, those who did not sneer insolently. The two Aes Sedai kept their faces hidden in their deep hoods and their heads down, white breath rising from the cowls like steam. From the corner of his eye, Perrin saw Elyas thumbing the hilt of his long knife. It was hard not to stroke his axe."I've come with a message for the Prophet from the Dragon Reborn," he announced. When none of the men moved, he added, "My name is Perrin Aybara. The Prophet knows me." Balwer had cautioned him about the dangers of using Masema's name, or calling Rand anything but the Lord Dragon Reborn. He was not there to start a riot.The claim of knowing Masema seemed to put a spark into the guards. Several exchanged wideeyed looks, and one went running inside. The rest stared at him as if he were a gleeman. In a few moments, a woman came to the door. Handsome, with white at her temples, in a highnecked dress of blue wool that was fine if unadorned, she might have been the merchant herself. Masema did not throw those who offered him hospitality into the streets, but their servants or farmhands usually ended up with one of the bands "spreading the glories of the Lord Dragon.""If you will come with me, Master Aybara," the woman said calmly, "you and your friends, I will take you to the Prophet of the Lord Dragon, may the Light illumine his name." Calm she might sound, but terror filled her scent.Telling Neald and the Warders to watch the horses until they returned, Perrin followed her inside with the others. The interior was dark, with few lamps lit, and not much warmer than outside. Even the Wise Ones seemed subdued. They did not smell afraid, but almost as close to it as the Aes Sedai, and Grady and Elyas smelled of wariness, of raised hackles and ears laid back. Strangely, Aram's scent was eager. Perrin hoped the man did not try to draw that sword on his back.The large, carpeted room the woman led them to, with fires blazing on hearths at either end, might have been a general's study, every table and half the chairs covered with maps and papers, and warm enough that Perrin tossed his cloak back and regretted wearing two s.h.i.+rts under his coat. But it was Masema standing in the middle of the room who drew his eyes immediately, like iron filings to a lodestone, a dark, scowling man with a shaven head and a pale triangular scar on one cheek, in a wrinkled gray coat and scuffed boots. His deepset eyes burned with a black fire, and his scent... The only name Perrin could give that smell, steelhard and bladesharp and quivering with wild intensity, was madness. And Rand thought he could put a leash on this?"So, it is you," Masema growled. "I did not think you would dare show your face. I know what you've been up to! Hari told me more than a week ago, and I have kept myself informed." A man s.h.i.+fted in a corner of the room, a narroweyed fellow with a thrusting nose, and Perrin upbraided himself for not noticing him before. Hari's green silk coat was much finer than what he had worn when he denied collecting ears. The fellow rubbed his hands together and grinned at Perrin viciously, but he kept silent as Masema went on. The Prophet's voice grew hotter by the word, not with anger, but as though he meant to burn every syllable deep into Perrin's flesh. "I know about you murdering men who have come to the Lord Dragon. I know about you trying to carve out your own kingdom! Yes, I know about Manetheren! About your ambition! Your greed for glory! You have turned your back on -!"Suddenly Masema's eyes bulged, and for the first time, anger flamed in his scent. Hari made a strangled sound and tried to back through the wall. Seonid and Masuri had lowered their hoods and stood with bare faces, calm and cool, and plainly Aes Sedai to anyone who knew the look. Perrin wondered whether they held the Power. He would have wagered that the Wise Ones did. Edarra and Carelle were quietly watching every direction at once, and smooth faces or no, if he had ever seen anyone ready to fight, it was them. For that matter, Grady wore readiness like his black coat; maybe he held the Power, too. Elyas was leaning against the wall beside the open doors, outwardly as composed as the sisters, but he smelled ready to bite. And Aram stood gazing at Masema with his mouth hanging open! Light!"So that is true, too!" Masema snapped, spittle flying from his lips. "With filthy rumors spreading against the holy name of the Lord Dragon, you dare to ride with these... these...!""They've sworn fealty to the Lord Dragon, Masema," Perrin cut in. "They serve him! Do you? He sent me to stop the killing. And to bring you to him." No one was offering him a chair, so he pushed a stack of papers from one and sat. He wished the rest would sit, too; shouting seemed harder when you were sitting down.Hari goggled at him, and Masema was practically shaking. Because he had taken a chair without being asked? Oh. Yes."I have given up the names of men," Masema said coldly. "I am simply the Prophet of the Lord Dragon, may the Light illumine him and the world come to kneel before him." By his tone, the world and the Light would regret failure equally. "There is much to do here, yet. Great works. All must obey when the Lord Dragon calls, but in winter, travel is always slow. A delay of a few weeks will make little difference.""I can have you in Cairhien today," Perrin said. "Once the Lord Dragon has spoken to you, you can return the same way and be back here in a few days." If Rand let him return.Masema actually recoiled. Baring his teeth, he glared at the Aes Sedai. "Some contrivance of the Power? I will not be touched with the Power! It is blasphemy for mortals to touch it!"Perrin came close to gaping. "The Dragon Reborn channels, man!""The blessed Lord Dragon is not as other men, Aybara!" Masema snarled. "He is the Light made fles.h.!.+ I will obey his summons, but I will not be touched by the filth these women do!"Slumping back in the chair, Perrin sighed. If the man was this bad over Aes Sedai, how would he be when he learned that Grady and Neald could channel? For a moment, he considered simply knocking Masema over the head, and... Men were pa.s.sing by in the corridor, pausing to glance in before hurrying on. All it took was one of them raising a shout, and Abila could become a slaughterhouse. "Then we ride, Prophet," he said sourly. Light, Rand had said to keep this secret until Masema stood in front of him! How to manage that riding all the way to Cairhien? "But no delays. The Lord Dragon is very anxious to talk with you.""I am anxious to speak with the Lord Dragon, may his name be blessed by the Light." His eyes flickered toward the two Aes Sedai. He tried to hide it, actually smiling at Perrin. But he smelled... grim. "I am very anxious indeed.""Would my Lady like me to ask one of the handlers to bring her a hawk?" Maighdin asked. One of Alliandre's four hawk handlers, all men as lean as their birds, urged a sleek duckhawk wearing a feathered hood onto his heavy gauntlet from the wooden stand in front of his saddle and lifted the gray bird toward her. The falcon, with its bluetipped wings, was on Alliandre's greengloved wrist. That bird was reserved to her, unfortunately. Alliandre knew her place as a va.s.sal, but Faile understood not wanting to relinquish a favorite bird.She merely shook her head, and Maighdin bowed in her saddle and moved her roan mare away from Swallow, far enough not to intrude but close enough to be at hand without Faile raising her voice. The dignified goldenhaired woman had proved to be every bit as good a lady's maid as Faile had hoped, knowledgeable, capable. At least, she had once she learned that whatever their relative positions with their former mistress, Lini was first among Faile's serving women, and willing to use her authority. Surprisingly, that had actually taken an episode with a switch, but Faile pretended not to know. Only an utter fool embarra.s.sed her servants. There was still the matter of Maighdin and Tallanvor, of course. She was certain Maighdin had begun sharing his bed, and if she found proof, they would marry if she had to turn Lini loose on both of them. Still, that was a small matter, and could not spoil her morning.Hawking had been Alliandre's idea, but Faile had not objected to a ride through this spa.r.s.e forest, where snow made a rolling blanket over everything and lay thick and white on bare branches. The green of the trees that still held their leaves seemed sharper. The air was crisp, and it smelled new and fresh.Bain and Chiad had insisted on accompanying her, but they squatted nearby, shoufa wrapped around their heads, watching her with disgruntled expressions. Sulin had wanted to come with all of the Maidens, but with a hundred stories of Aiel depredations floating everywhere, the sight of an Aiel was enough to send most people in Amadicia running or reaching for a sword. There must be some truth in those tales, or so many would not know an Aiel, though the Light alone knew who they were or where they had come from, yet even Sulin agreed that whoever they were, they had moved on east, perhaps into Altara.In any case, this close to Abila, twenty of Alliandre's soldiers and as many Mayener Winged Guards provided sufficient escort. The streamers on their lances, red or green, lifted like ribbons when the breeze stirred. Berelain's presence was the only blight. Though watching the woman s.h.i.+ver in her furtrimmed red cloak, thick enough for two blankets, was certainly amusing. Mayene did not have a real winter. This was like the last days of autumn. In Saldaea, the heart of winter could freeze exposed flesh hard as wood. Faile took a deep breath. She felt like laughing.By some miracle, her husband, her beloved wolf, had begun behaving as he should. Instead of shouting at Berelain or running from her, Perrin now tolerated the jade's blandishments, plainly tolerated them the way he would a child playing around his knees. And best of all, there was no longer any need to tamp down her anger when she wanted to let it loose. When she shouted, he shouted back. She knew he was not Saldaean, but it had been so hard, thinking in her heart of hearts that he believed her too weak to stand up to him. A few nights ago at supper, she had almost pointed out to him that Berelain was going to fall out of her dress if she leaned over the table any further. Well, she was not going to that far, not with Berelain; the trull still thought she could win him. And that very morning, he had been commanding, quietly brooking no argument, the sort of man a woman knew she had to be strong to deserve, to equal. Of course, she would have to nip him over that. A commanding man was wonderful, so long as he did not come to believe he could always command. Laugh? She could have sung!"Maighdin, I think after all I will... " Maighdin was there immediately with an inquiring smile, but Faile trailed off at the sight of three riders ahead of her, plowing through the snow as fast as they could push their horses."At least there are plenty of hares, my Lady," Alliandre said, walking her tall white gelding up beside Swallow, "but I had hoped... Who are they?" Her falcon s.h.i.+fted on her thick glove, the bells on its jesses jingling. "Why, it looks like some of your people, my Lady."Faile nodded grimly. She recognized them, too. Parelean, Arrela and Lacile. But what were they doing here?The three drew rein before her, their horses panting steam. Parelean looked as wideeyed as his dapple. Lacile, her pale face nearly hidden in the deep cowl of her cloak, was swallowing anxiously, and Arrela's dark face seemed gray. "My Lady," Parelean said urgently, "dire news! The Prophet Masema has been meeting with the Seanchan!""The Seanchan!" Alliandre exclaimed. "Surely he cannot believe they will come to the Lord Dragon!""It might be simpler," Berelain said, heeling her tooshowy white mare up on Alliandre's other side. Without Perrin about for her to try to impress, her dark blue riding dress was cut quite modestly, with a neck up under her chin. She still s.h.i.+vered. "Masema dislikes Aes Sedai, and the Seanchan keep women who can channel as prisoners."Faile clicked her tongue in vexation. Dire news indeed, if true. And she could only hope Parelean and the others retained enough of their wits to at least pretend they had simply overheard talk by chance. Even so, she had to be sure, and quickly. Perrin might already have reached Masema. "What proof do you have, Parelean?""We talked to three farmers who saw a large flying creature land four nights ago, my Lady. It brought a woman who was taken to Masema and remained with him for three hours.""We were able to trace her all the way to where Masema stays in Abila," Lacile added."The three men all thought the creature was Shadowsp.a.w.n," Arrela put in, "but they seemed fairly reliable." For her to say any man not of Cha Faile was fairly reliable was the same as anyone else saying they thought he was honest as a bell."I think I must ride into Abila," Faile said, gathering Swallow's reins. "Alliandre, take Maighdin and Berelain with you." Any other time, the tightening of Berelain's lips over that would have been amusing. "Parelean, Arrela and Lacile will accompany me - " A man screamed, and everyone jerked.Fifty paces away, one of Alliandre's greencoated soldiers was toppling from his saddle, and a moment later, a Winged Guard fell with an arrow standing out from his throat. Aiel appeared among the trees, veiled and wielding bows as they ran. More soldiers fell. Bain and Chiad were on their feet, dark veils hiding their faces to the eyes; their spears were thrust through the straps of the bow cases on their back, and they worked their bows smoothly, but they cast glances toward Faile, too. There were Aiel all around, hundreds it seemed, a great noose closing in. Mounted soldiers lowered lances, pulling back in their own circle around Faile and the others, but gaps appeared immediately as Aiel arrows struck home."Someone must get this news of Masema to Lord Perrin," Faile told Parelean and the two women. "One of you must reach him! Ride like fire!" Her sweeping gaze took in Alliandre and Maighdin. And Berelain, too. "All of you, ride like fire, or die here!" Barely waiting for their nods, she suited actions to words, and dug her heels into Swallow's flanks, bursting through the useless ring of soldiers. "Ride!" she shouted. Someone had to get the news to Perrin. "Ride!"Leaning low on Swallow's neck, she urged the black mare for speed. Fleet hooves splashed snow as Swallow ran, light as her namesake. For a hundred strides, Faile thought she might break free. And then Swallow screamed and stumbled, pitching forward with the sharp snap of a breaking leg. Faile flew through air and struck hard, most of the breath driven out of her as she plunged facedown into the snow. Fighting for air, she struggled to her feet and s.n.a.t.c.hed a knife from her belt. Swallow had screamed before she stumbled, before that awful crack.A veiled Aielman loomed up before her as if out of the air, chopping at her wrist with a stiffened hand. Her knife dropped from suddenly numb fingers, and before she could try to draw another with her left hand, the man was on her.She fought, kicking, punching, even biting, but the fellow was as wide as Perrin and a head taller. He seemed as hard as Perrin, too, for all the impression she made on him. She could have wept with frustration at the humiliating ease with which he handled her, first rooting out all of her knives and tucking them behind his belt, then using one of her own blades to cut her clothes away. Almost before she knew it, she was naked in the snow, her elbows bound together behind her back with one of her stockings, the other tied about her neck for a leash.She had no choice except to follow him, s.h.i.+vering and stumbling through the snow. Her skin pebbled with the cold. Light, how she had ever thought this day anything less than icy? Light, if only someone had managed to escape with the news of Masema! To carry word of her capture to Perrin, of course, but she could escape somehow. The other was more important.The first body she saw was Parelean, sprawled on his back with his sword in one outflung hand and blood all over his fine coat with the satinstriped sleeves. There were plenty of corpses after, Winged Guards in their red breastplates, Alliandre's soldiers in their dark green helmets, one of the hawkers, the hooded duckhawk flapping vainly against the jesses still gripped in the dead man's fist. She held on to hope, though.The first other prisoners she saw, kneeling among some Aiel, men and Maidens with their veils hanging down their chests, were Bain and Chiad, each naked, unbound hands on her knees. Blood ran down across Bain's face and matted her flamered hair. Chiad's left cheek was purple and swollen, and her gray eyes looked slightly glazed. They knelt there, straightbacked, impa.s.sive, and unashamed, but as the big Aielman pushed her roughly to her knees beside them, they roused themselves."This is not right, Shaido," Chiad mumbled angrily."She does not follow ji'e'toh," Bain barked. "You cannot make her gai'shain.""The gai'shain will be quiet," a graying Maiden said absently. Bain and Chiad gave Faile regretful looks, then settled back to their calm waiting. Huddling, trying to hide her nakedness against her knees, Faile did not know whether to weep or laugh. The two women she would have chosen to help her escape from anywhere, and neither would raise a hand to try because of ji'e'toh."I say again, Efalin," the man who had captured her muttered, "this is foolishness. We travel at a crawl in this... snow." He said the word awkwardly. "There are too many armed men, here. We should be moving east, not taking more gai'shain to slow us further.""Sevanna wants more gai'shain, Rolan," the graying Maiden replied. She frowned, though, and her hard gray eyes seemed disapproving for a moment.s.h.i.+vering, Faile blinked as the names sank in. Light, but the cold was making her wits slow. Sevanna. Shaido. They were in Kinslayer's Dagger, as far from here as was possible to be without crossing the Spine of the World! Clearly they were not, though. That was something Perrin should know, another reason for her to escape soon. There seemed little chance of that, crouching there in the snow and wondering which bits of her were going to freeze first. The Wheel was balancing her amus.e.m.e.nt over Berelain's s.h.i.+vers with a vengeance. She was actually looking forward to the thick woolen robes that gai'shain wore. Her captors made no move to depart, though. There were other captives to be brought in.First was Maighdin, stripped bare and bound as Faile was, and struggling every step of the way. Until the Maiden who was pus.h.i.+ng her along abruptly kicked her feet out from under her. Maighdin plunked down sitting in the snow, and her eyes popped so wide that Faile might have laughed if she had not felt sorry for the woman. Alliandre came next, bent nearly double in an effort to s.h.i.+eld herself, and then Arrela, who seemed half paralyzed by her nudity and was almost being dragged by a pair of Maidens. Finally, another tall Aielman appeared with a furiously kicking Lacile tucked under one arm like a package."The rest are dead or escaped," the man said, dropping the small Cairhienin woman beside Faile. "Sevanna will have to be satisfied, Efalin. She puts too much store in taking people who wear silk."Faile did not struggle at all when she was prodded to her feet and set to laboring through the snow at the head of the other prisoners. She was too stunned to fight. Parelean dead, Arrela and Lacile captive, and Alliandre, and Maighdin. Light, someone had to warn Perrin about Masema. Someone. It seemed a final blow. Here she was, s.h.i.+vering and gritting her teeth to keep them from chattering, trying her best to pretend that she was not stark naked and bound, on her way to an uncertain captivity. All of that, and she had to hope that that slinking cat - that pouting trull! - Berelain, had managed to escape so she could reach Perrin. Alongside everything else, that seemed the worst of all.Egwene walked Daishar along the column of initiates, sisters on their horses among the wagons, Accepted and novices afoot despite the snow. The sun was bright in a sky with few clouds, but mist curled from her gelding's nostrils. Sheriam and Siuan rode at her back, talking quietly about information learned from Siuan's eyesandears. Egwene had thought the firehaired woman an efficient Keeper once she learned that she was not the Amyrlin, but day by day, Sheriam seemed to grow ever more a.s.siduous about her duties. Chesa followed on her tubby mare in case the Amyrlin wanted anything, and unlike her, she was muttering again about Meri and Selame both running away, the ungrateful wretches, leaving her to do the work of three. They rode slowly, and Egwene very carefully did not look toward the column.A month of recruiting, a month of the novice book being open to all, had brought in startling numbers, a flood anxious to become Aes Sedai, women of every age some from hundreds of miles away. There were now twice as many novices with the column as before. Almost a thousand! Most by far would never wear the shawl, yet the number of them had everyone staring. Some might cause minor problems, and one, a grandmother named Sharina with a potential above even that of Nynaeve, certainly had everyone startled, but it was not the sight of a mother and daughter squabbling because the daughter would be the stronger by far one day that she was trying to avoid, or n.o.blewomen who were beginning to think they had made the wrong choice asking to be tested, or even Sharina's disturbingly direct looks. The grayhaired woman obeyed every rule and showed every proper respect, but she had run her large family by the sheer force of her presence, and even some of the sisters stepped warily around her. What Egwene did not want to see were the young women who had joined them two days before. The two sisters who brought them had been more than startled to find Egwene as Amyrlin, but their charges could not believe it, not Egwene al'Vere, the Mayor's daughter from Emond's Field. She did not want to order anyone else punished, but she would have to if she saw another stick her tongue out at her.Gareth Bryne had his army in a wide column, too, cavalry and foot all arrayed and stretching out of sight through the trees. The pale sun glinted off breastplates and helmets and the points of pikes. Horses stamped their hooves in the snow impatiently.Bryne walked his st.u.r.dy bay to meet her before she reached the Sitters waiting on their horses, in a large clearing ahead of both columns. He smiled at her through the facebars of his helmet. A rea.s.suring smile, she thought. "A fine morning for it, Mother," he said. "Here."She only nodded, and he fell in behind her, beside Siuan. Who did not immediately begin spitting at him. Egwene was not certain exactly what accommodation Siuan had reached with the man, but she seldom grumbled about him anymore in Egwene's hearing, and never when he was present. Egwene was glad he was there, now. The Amyrlin Seat could not let her general know she wanted his rea.s.surance, but she felt the need of it this morning.The Sitters had their horses in a line at the edge of the trees, and thirteen more sisters sat their mounts a little way off, watching the Sitters carefully. Romanda and Lelaine spurred their animals forward almost together, and Egwene could hardly help sighing as they approached, cloaks flaring behind them, hooves spraying snow as if at the charge. The Hall obeyed her because it had no choice. In matters concerning the war against Elaida, they did, but Light, how they could quibble over what did or did not concern the war. When it did not, getting anything out of them was like pulling duck's teeth! Except for Sharina, they might have found a way to put a stop to accepting women of any age. Even Romanda was impressed by Sharina.The pair reined in before her, but before they could open their mouths, she spoke. "It's time we got on with it, daughters, and no time for wasting in idle chatter. Proceed." Romanda sniffed, though softly, and Lelaine looked as though she wanted to.They wheeled their horses as one, then glared at one another a moment. Events this past month had only heightened their dislike for each other. Lelaine tossed her head angrily in concession, and Romanda smiled, a faint curving of her lips. Egwene almost smiled, too. That mutual animosity was still her greatest strength in the Hall."The Amyrlin Seat commands you to proceed," Romanda announced, raising one hand grandly.The light of saidar sprang up around the thirteen sisters near the Sitters, around all of them together, and a thick slash of silver appeared in the middle of the clearing, rotating into a gateway ten paces tall and a hundred wide. Falling snow drifted through from the other side. Shouted orders rose among the soldiers, and the first armored heavy calvary rode through. The swirling snow beyond the gateway was too thick to see far, yet Egwene imagined that she could make out the s.h.i.+ning Walls of Tar Valon and the White Tower itself."It has begun, Mother," Sheriam said, sounding almost surprised."It has begun," Egwene agreed. And the Light willing, soon Elaida would fall. She was supposed to wait until Bryne said sufficient of his soldiers were through, but she could not stop herself. Digging her heels into Daishar's flanks, she rode through into the falling snow, onto the plain where Dragonmount reared black and smoking against a white sky.

Chapter 31

(Serpent and Wheel)

After

Winter winds and winter snows slowed the pa.s.sage of trade across lands where they did not end it until spring, and for every three pigeons sent by merchants, two fell to hawks or weather, but where ice did not cover the rivers, s.h.i.+ps still sailed, and rumor flew faster than lightnings. A thousand rumors, each throwing off a thousand seeds that sprouted and grew in snow and ice as in fertile soil.At Tar Valon, some stories said, great armies had clashed, and the streets ran with blood, and rebel Aes Sedai had stuck the head of Elaida a'Roihan on a pike. No; Elaida had closed her hand, and those who survived among the rebels groveled at Elaida's feet. There had been no rebels, no division of the White Tower. It was the Black Tower that had been broken, by Aes Sedai designs and Aes Sedai power, and Asha'man hunted Asha'man across the nations. The White Tower had shattered the Sun Palace in Cairhien, and the Dragon Reborn himself was bound now to the Amyrlin Seat, her puppet and her tool. Some tales said Aes Sedai had been bound to him, bound to the Asha'man, yet few believed that, and those few were ridiculed.Artur Hawkwing's armies had returned to reclaim his longdead empire, and the Seanchan were sweeping all before them, even to driving the Dragon Reborn from Altara in defeat. The Seanchan had come to serve him. No; he had cast the Seanchan into the sea, destroying their army utterly. They had carried the Dragon Reborn away, to kneel before their Empress. The Dragon Reborn was dead, and there was as much celebration as mourning, as many tears as cries of joy.Across the nations the stories spread like spiderweb laid upon spiderweb, and men and women planned the future, believing they knew truth. They planned, and the Pattern absorbed their plans, weaving toward the future foretold.The End?of the Eighth Book of?The Wheel of Time

THE WHEEL OF TIME

by Robert Jordan

The Eye of the World

The Great Hunt

The Dragon Reborn

The Shadow Rising

The Fires of Heaven

Lord of Chaos

A Crown of Swords

The Path of Daggers

Winter's Heart

Crossroads of Twilight

Knife of Dreams