Kaneda put the last touches on the schedule. I've still need to talk to the Wise Ones about how much time we can actually have with the Aes Sedai, he thought. I wish I had some idea exactly what's going on with that, he thought. Well, time to go find out. A splash of the tea kettle and Kaneda became Akane. I assume they'll respond better to me as a girl than me as a boy, she thought. I hope so. The door opened and an old woman walked in. Akane had seen her around but not been directly introduced. The old woman said, "I am Cadsuane Sedai. I..." She trailed off, looking intently at Akane. "Where is Kaneda?" Akane smiled impishly. "He disappears when people come in without knocking." Cadsuane cocked an eyebrow, then nodded. "I take it the stories are true." "Indeed." Akane shook herself dry, well, dryer. "Chair?" she pointed to one of the chairs. "Chair." Cadsuane sat down. "Do you channel in both forms?" "No. Only in my boy form," Akane said, sitting down on her bed. "But I was born female." Cadsuane nodded. "But you channel Saidan?" "Yes." Akane shrugged. "No one in my world channels, or if they do, I've never seen it. Although we can do some of the same things with chi." "And you suffer the Taint?" Akane smiled again. "No. I made a deal with the Foxes. I can protect twenty people. Unfortunately, I learned from the Snakes thatt the reason the Aes Sedai of the past didn't do this was that the Foxes weren't strong enough to protect everyone." Cadsuane nodded. "And how do you know this isn't a delusion?" Akane frowned slightly. "Because other male channelers can tell. Because I got the skills of the Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends for the Hall of Servants at the same time. And it works. All of it we can manage with just nineteen of us." "I understand your lover picked a fight with Samitsu Sedai. Getting even some old scores." Her voice was cool and casual, but her eyes were more intense. "She did not pick a fight. Samitsu came to her and wanted to know how strong Alyssa was. Why she demanded a demonstration, I don't know; she ought to be able to just sense the difference." Akane could feel herself getting angry, and tried to tamp it down. "All she did was shield her. She got rid of the shield afterwards, anyway. And she apologized." "I understand she washed out of the Tower." "She hated it there; she refused deliberately so she could leave. It made her miserable. Given the kind of crap they put novices through, I'm not surprised." Akane shrugged. "So why do the other Aes Sedai worship you as a god?" "A what?" "They seem to think you're the greatest thing since sliced bread." "Sliced bread?" Akane choked back more frustration. "They act like you're the Creator's personal avatar." "Ahh. I am the oldest of the Aes Sedai at this time, and I have had a long, successful career. Seniority has its privileges." "And you're strong in the Power." "Yes." "Are you interested in the lessons we're going to be giving? I was about to take the schedule over to discuss with the Wise Ones, but..." Cadsuane smiled faintly. "Yes, I am curious. What do you propose to teach?" "Well, I've been talking to the head of Rand's school. Idrien Tarsin. Any kind of technological and scientific and historical information we can share with them will be taught in classes open to anyone who is interested. This fellow, Mervin...he's trying to build a steam engine. And this other fellow...well, I could go into that for a long time. Rifles. Once we get enough people trained in Delving, we can make enough gunpowder for a small legion." She laughed. "Let's see how effective sword-wielding trollocs are against cannon and machineguns." She paused to gather her thoughts, then continued. "Well, if we manage to figure out that much, anyway." Getting excited, she started to talk faster and faster. "Anywayy, our weakest channelers andthose of us with special knowledge from my world will be teaching that, and we're going to teach martial arts and then, of course, we could spend years trying to pass on our channeling knowledge. Joan has a knack for making Ter'angreal; she's going to be making some Farspeakers with Jo's help. So what are your strongpoints as an Aes Sedai?" "Battle and shielding, especially against male channelers," Cadsuane said. "Spirit, Air, and Water. I know a million tricks for subduing people without killing them. I've also studied how to keep gentled males alive; it's a simple trick, really. You simply..." Her calm face suddenly became shocked for a moment, then her eyes narrowed. "I'd almost think..." Akane blinked. "Huh?" Apparently unconsciously, Cadsuane fiddled with her hair while speaking, adjusting her hairpiece. "What are your strengths as a channeler?" "Fire and Air especially. I'm very, very good at making images. I'd demonstrate, but I can't." Akane shrugged. "Anyway, we'll be teaching all sorts of channeling stuff if you want lessons. Including battle stuff. Although I guess the three oaths get in the way." Cadsuane said, "And what is the cost of a lesson?" "Don't be disruptive in class, listen to what the teacher is telling you, don't go on a rampage with it. Financial donations would be nice; I really don't like living off of Rand, but most of the students already work for him." "Not an oath of obedience?" Cadsuane's voice was sharp. "Like with Else Sedai?" "Else and Dora beat my sister for telling the truth, attacked and hurt my friends, and tried to still me," Akane said sharply. "They tortured people. I should have..." Her fists clenched. "The oath rod is for criminals, not students." Akane relaxed a little. "That's what they were made for. If the Age of Legends Aes Sedai could get by without binding normal people, so can we. We took an oath, but not on a Rod." "What gives you the right to try them?" Cadsuane asked, her voice back to its usual mellow tone. "Because the Tower would have condoned them, Amadicia would have killed them, and the Wise Ones...I think Dora's happier in a cell than with them." Cadsuane frowned slightly. "The Tower does not condone torture." Without the proper rules being followed, she thought. "I see. Then why did they kidnap Rand and beat him on a regular basis? And keep him in a box? So much for the Three Oaths protecting anyone. I'd like to hope I can judge individual Aes Sedai fairly, but the more I hear about Elaida and her cronies, the less impressed I am with it as a group." "And yet, you'll teach Aes Sedai without an oath." "What's the point? Any oath can be wiggled around. Perhaps I'm a fool, but I think knowledge is meant to be shared, nor hoarded. There's only nineteen of us. If we don't share our knowledge, it will be lost. There's so much good we can do with it. The knowledge of Healing alone... So many people die who shouldn't have to in this world." Akane's voice grew passionate. "I could have gone home, but I chose to stay here because I want to help this world. I want to help Rand as best I can, and this is the best way, I think." "He trusts you to do this." "It took some doing to get him to agree to it, but I talked him into it." "Have you sworn fealty to him?" "Not technically. Not an Oath, oath. But I work for him now." "So why does he trust you?" "Umm...Because I tell the truth and brought him a way to protect him from the Taint?" "The Dragon does not trust anyone easily. Yet, I have heard you have had private meetings with him." "Yep. Well, as private as it ever gets around here. With only a few people breathing down our necks. And one late night talk with just us, basically." "And this doesn't strike you as odd?" "What, that he usually has bodyguards around?" "The trust he gives you." "Why shouldn't he trust me?" Akane had the feeling Cadsuane was hinting at something, but she couldn't quite get it. Does she think I'm untrustworthy? "You come from nowwhere with wild talk of being from another world and having the knowledge of the Age of Legends. While you can prove some of it, he should be suspecting you are one of the Forsaken or an agent; there are few sources of the knowledge of the Age of Legends. You've brought nineteen powerful channelers into the palace, none bound to obey him and he doesn't even blink." Cadsuane was speeding up now. Akane cut in. "Knowledgeable. Some of us aren't too strong. Havric and Egwene Shalor can just barely channel reliably and couldn't even heat a soup pot very well. So they're stuck knowing a lot of stuff they can't do too well." Cadsuane talked over Akane, possibly not even noticing. "Meanwhile, he won't even talk to Aes Sedai who have sworn to serve him, leaving them to the Wise Ones as playthings. Not ones who opposed him, but ones who came in friendship, although they did fumble that business quite a bit. Although I can symphasize with Delmira, but still..." She trailed off. "You are ta'veren." "No, Rand and Mat and Perrin are the ta'verens. I'm just me. I've gotten lucky a bit, but..." "Twice, I have begun to say more than I intended to. And what you have accomplished...ta'veren. Not as strong as the three boys, but still..." She looked contemplatively at Akane. "And you do not fear Aes Sedai." "Well, you're generally not rampaging maniacs." "Despite knowing I've brought men to the Tower repeatedly to be gentled, you've made no effort to touch the Source. I could shield you and you couldn't stop me." Akane blinked. "I can't touch the Source in this form." "You're the only..." She shook her head. "Here I go again. You interest me. Let me know when the lessons begin. There are things I must teach...but perhaps I can learn from you how to get my pupil to listen." She stood up. "Good day, Kaneda Sedai." "Call me Akane when I'm like this," Akane said. "Akane Tendo is my name." Cadsuane nodded. "As you like." She quietly left. ************ Parallel Lives #9: Book One: For Remembrance Lost Steep Learning Curves A Wheel of Time / Ranma 1 / 2 crossover, by John Biles Other chapters available at http://www.thekeep.org/~wombat/PL/ ************ Ukyou had wanted to take the book with her, but Kuranes had forbidden it. Perhaps it is for the best, she thought. Ranchan would freak if he saw he was a girl in the Age of Legends. Well, if that was Ranchan. I had a brother, she thought. A lot of siblings. I wonder if we all ended up reborn on different worlds. I wonder where Derin is now...Actually, he looked kinda like Alyssa's boy form. Now that would be really funky; Akane dating my reincarnated brother. So who is Basel Kurinin? My husband at that time. Ranchan? Konatsu...if he was Tsubasa, I'm gonna be ill. KONATSU! I told him I'd only be gone a few days...shit. No way to send a...ooh, maybe I can find him in that void of dream stars and leave a message somehow...yeah. Tomorrow, I'll start looking for books on T'A'R. And tonight, I'll ask LINA about it. And that statue thing...I gotta go visit that again some time. Oooh...I bet I could use the same thing I used to find Akane to find all the Forsaken, then Rand could go kick their asses. Yeah. Better wait until I'm a little more skilled for that, though. How the heck am I gonna get Mesaana to play War of the Wheel with me, though? I doubt the Forsaken are stupid enough to go for personal duels. Not to mention that Mesaana beat me four of the twelve times I went up against her in tournaments. She's good. ************ Sherin Loys Delerni stared at the board, pursing her lips. While winning this round would leave her with three more opponents to beat to gain a fifth championship, Saine Tarasind was the person she considered the greater threat. Saine wasn't as good a player as the other three, but she knew how to psych people out. Especially non-Aes Sedai. Sherin Loys Delerni was not the average non-Aes Sedai, however, and not easily intimidated. Her mother had been Aes Sedai, and half her family could channel, like her brother Derin, who had been wiped out in the Ne Oedo local tournment months ago. This was the World Three Dimensional Gaira Tournament in Paaran Disen. She had the eyes of the world on her; that was intimidating. Not that so many people were watching as once would have. Things had been going downhill for years now, and no one really understood why. The dreams of the world were growing darker, and so did her own prophetic dreams. There was a recurring image, a hand reaching out from a crack in the ground, a flailing blindly at first, then more purposefully beginning to pry the crack wider. She reached for her top male Knight, and saw Saine raise an eyebrow as if she was shocked. Has she seen something I haven't? Sharin wondered. Time was running short; only five minutes allowed per move. Only the top Knight could stop Saine's top Farmer from reaching the eighth row and being promoted into something that would be...trouble. She'd let herself get distracted with her own plans and forgotten to keep an eye out for Saine's own plans. This was no way to play, but Saine had rattled her again; this usually happened when they played. Two years ago, Saine had defeated her in the quarterfinals of the World Tournament, then gone on to be wiped out in the semifinals by that strange blind player; Sharin was glad he had retired after winning that year. And the defeat had come because Saine had successfully bluffed her out of an important move. Or maybe she just WANTS me to think I should take her Farmer. Maybe he's just there to distract me from something and she's trying to make me think...This could easily turn into an infinite spiral of paranoia. Thirty seconds on the timer. She's trying to make me NOT take the Farmer, Sherin decided, moving her Knight and taking it. "Your turn." Five seconds later, Saine slid her bottom Skeptic all the way across the board in one move and promoted it to General. "I do love seeing one of my pupils move ahead in the world," she murmured. Sherin moved swiftly, her bottom Dragon descending upon the unfortunate former Skeptic. Munch. "I can't believe you didn't see that." She sat back, feeling triumphant. That quickly deflated when Saine's top Dragon descended two levels at an angle and took Sherin's bottom Dragon. "You do remember what happens when one Dragon takes another?" She smiled unpleasantly. "Yours is turned. Which effectively paralyzes both of yours, and since only a Dragon can turn a Dragon...Would you like to resign now?" "There's more than one way to skin a cat, Saine. It's not over yet." Looking back, it was over. It was the last time they played; the next two years, Saine didn't make it to the National Tournament, and then the War of the Shadow began and the National Tournament ceased to meet. When next she saw Saine, Saine was called Mesanna and was in the news as a leader of the Shadow. They never met in person again. ************ Ukyou came back to herself, rubbing her eyes. It had been so real. Did I imagine that? Maybe I did, she thought. I wonder if Ranchan has had any flashbacks. She had much to think about during her walk home. ************ Cerise sat with Jur Grady and played cards; they had nothing better to do. They were sitting guard over the small pile of Angreals and whatnot that Lord Kaneda and company had found near Castle Mist. She was tempted to make Jur wear the ring that compelled its wearer to tell the truth; either he was cheating or he had the Dark One's own luck at cards. The possibility that she might not be very good at cards never crossed her mind. "I can't believe we're stuck here watching this stuff. I mean, it is powerful, but this place has enough wards to blow this palace to the Moon if they all went off," Cerise said. "Best to avoid surprises," Jur said, staring at his cards, his face utterly blank. "Especially with that thing there." He pointed at the twisted doorway. "I keep thinking about using it, but I don't know what I could pay with. Or what all I want." "I think it causes everyone who uses it to start turning into the opposite sex when they get wet," Cerise said. "I'm not going near it." Jur laughed. "I heard the Lord Dragon used it." "I guess we'll find out when it rains," Cerise muttered, then tried not to look too blatantly when Jur dropped his cards because he was laughing too hard to hold onto them. *************** Joan of the Hall of the Servants was Ghealdinin. However, unlike the average Ghealdinin, she had blue hair, due to an act of revenge that Shera, another woman from her village, had carried out on her. She had decided she liked having blue hair, however, and had kept it that way. They had been fighting over a man, Tyr, who both of them had had a crush on for quite some time. Tyr was outside the city, holding Joan's latest creation, which was supposed to be a farspeaker, if it worked. She was sure it should. These would greatly facilitate long distance communications once they mad enough. She flipped a switch. "Joan to Tyr. Come in, Tyr." There was a long pause. "Is this the right switch?" It worked. She gave a sigh of relief. While Joan was not too strong in the Power, Lord Kaneda had let her use one of the Hall's angreals, and with that, she had been able to easily make the Farspeaker. Until this moment, she hadn't been sure it would work. "It's the right switch, Tyr. It worked!" She did a little victory dance. Now I just have to make six more by tomorrow. It was going to be a late night, and she wasn't even sure WHY the Lord Dragon wanted them all so soon, but she would do her best to get it all done. ************* Sorilea, Amys, Someryn, and Bair sat in one of the tents with Akane, who felt like she was back in school. In theory, she was discussing the teaching of the Aes Sedai; in practice, she was being drilled about all sorts of things with little connection to the topic allegedly at hand, ranging from Rand to the ter'angreals her group possessed. Time to take control, she thought. "So is this a yes or a no?" Amys blinked. "What?" "Are we going to set up a schedule or are you going to act like this is a semester exam some more? Because if you are, I have other things I could be doing." "The Car'a'carn has commanded this?" Sorilea asked. "Yes! That's what I told you the first time!" Akane fought to not shout. Maybe I should have come in boy form, she thought. They must know I can't channel like this. "They are not the most apt of pupils," Bair said. "They lack humility." The pot calls the kettle black, Akane thought. "Well, I'm sure being taught they don't know as much as they think they do might teach them some humility." "Speaking of that," Bair said. "One of your followers is a dreamwalker. She needs training." "She's working on that." They're going to ask me to give Ukyou to them, she realized. In return for agreeing to this. "She needs a human teacher. Books and machines," Bair spat out the word, "Are no substitute. A machine or a book cannot tell you when you are going too fast or taking too big a risk." "Well, I can tell her you said that, but I can't make her come to you if she's not interested," Akane said. Why are they insisting so hard? "Are you aware that she stumbled into your dreams last night?" Bair asked as if this happened every day. Akane blinked, then blushed. If she saw that one dream...It took every ounce of willpower she had to not get up and run out of the tent and go hide under her bed. I may have to start warding my dreams; I know how, but it just didn't seem worth it, but...She pulled herself back to the present. "That is between her and me, and no business of yours." She tried to make her voice firm, which was hard because her brain kept running in circles about what Ukyou might have seen. "I can only conclude you were prying into my dreams in order for you to have noticed." Silence. Perhaps I can make them a counter offer. "However, I possess three ter'angreal which allow anyone, even a non- channeler to enter Tel'aran'rhiod. I would be willing to give the Wise Ones one of them in order that you might train my people in the arts of dealing with Tel'aran'rhiod. Starting with myself and Alyssa." The Wise Ones glanced at each other. "An interesting offer," Sorilea said. "I want access to the twisted doorway. Give us access to that and we will consider that fair payment. And you may have the Aes Sedai for..." She looked over at the others. "Can they spare three hours a day?" "We will need to discuss this; some of our apprentices are making progress faster than others," Amys said. "But I'm sure each of them can spare some time to study with you. I warn you that some of them are quite stubborn and will likely not listen to you without great effort on your part." Bair nodded. "They are coming around, but it is slow." "I accept your offer," Akane said. "Be warned that the Foxes will cheat you as much as they can, and the greater the boon, the greater the price. And ALWAYS set the price first." "I have great need," Sorilea said. "And I will pay whatever price is necessary." *********** Ranma sprawled out on the bed. Ukyou was coming; he could feel her getting closer. I should undress for bed, he thought. He was just worn out, although he couldn't have said why. Ukyou was worried about something; he could feel it, stronger and stronger as she got closer. Ukyou stepped in the door, looking troubled, then perked up immediately. "Ready for some food, Ranchan?" "Food. No wonder I'm tired; I haven't had dinner. How late in the day is it?" She blinked. "It's dark outside, but not too late." "I've been teaching people to clobber each other all day." He laughed. "So what's on your mind?" "Nothing." I shouldn't bother Ranchan with that until I'm sure. He shook a finger at her. "I can tell you're worried about something." "I found a book that probably talks about a past life of mine." She pulled a chair over near the bed. "Really? Cool. So what were you like?" "I went into people's dreams to try and help heal their minds." Memories of last night's escapades flitted through her mind. She blushed, remembering Akane's dream a little too vividly. "You know, Ranchan, beating the Dark One isn't gonna come down to some one on one duel." Ranma blinked. Why's she changing the subject? Maybe her past life died horribly or something. "Don't worry, Ucchan. We'll kick his butt. He always gets his butt kicked in every age, so he can't be too much of a threat." "Ranchan, the last time, he destroyed civilization and drove EVERY MALE AES SEDAI MAD!" You're in denial, or maybe you just don't understand this isn't like you and Ryouga having it out, Ukyou thought. "You can't just use the Hiryuu Shoutenha on him, Ranchan. You can't come back for a rematch. We could die, Ranchan." "If he breaks free in this world, every world dies, Ucchan," Ranma said quietly. "You want to go home and watch all of creation get destroyed when we could be trying to prevent it?" Ukyou sighed. "All I ever wanted was to marry you and run my restaurant, Ranchan." "You don't have to stay if you don't want to, Ucchan." "I don't have any way to go home; Kasumi has the D-hopper. And even if I could, I couldn't leave you, Ranchan." How do I get in these situations, she asked herself. Ranma stared at the ground instead of her. "Thank you, Ucchan. I...I don't want to be alone." She got up, came over, and sat down by Ranma, putting an arm around him. "I won't leave you alone, Ranchan." He leaned over and kissed her cheek hesitantly. "I'm sorry I got you stuck in this, Ucchan." "At least we're stuck together." ************ "I think you should bond me," Akane said to Alyssa. "In case something happens, that way we can find each other." Alyssa nodded. She grasped the Source and did it. "There you go." She could feel Akane's presence now, like a tiny Akane narrarator in her head telling her about Akane. She could feel what Akane was feeling, though less acutely. This is going to be weird during sex, she thought, then blushed. A few seconds later, the air ripped open across the room and Rand poked his head through a hole in space. He stepped out and it closed behind him. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" "Alyssa just bonded me," Akane said. "Back already?" "I came to ask you a favor. You're from Ghealdan, right Alyssa?" "Yes," Alyssa said. "So are Joan and Wil and Sera and Tyr. And probably some of our other people." "Tyr's one of your top students, right, Kaneda?" Rand asked. Akane, Akane thought. "Yes. Call me Akane when I'm a girl." "Right. I'm sending a secret embassy to Ghealdan; it would be good to have a native or two along on the trip. I want to send Alyssa and Tyr along. Also, I've had reports of the Seanchan taking Ebou Dar. I want to send in some spies to investigate. Some of them will be Ash'aman. I want you to put together a team; if you have any one from Ebou Dar, that would be perfect." Ghealdan, Alyssa thought. This must be what the Snakes were talking about. "I can go," she said. Akane nodded. "If I take a fair number of people out, we'll need someone to guard the ter'angreal cache we've set up. Possibly some of your Ash'aman, I suppose." He nodded. "I'll have Taim discuss it with you," Rand said. "I've been needing to have you meet him, anyway." He paused and stared off at the wall, then muttered something to himself. It sounded like 'shut up'. "What was that?" Akane asked, concerned. "Nothing," Rand said. "I'll be in Caemlyn a few more days, then down to Illian to direct operations." "Operations?" "I need to get Illian in order, then once I get the intelligence reports, it will be time to crush the Seanchan again like we did at Falme." He turned to go. "Alyssa, go talk to Perrin; he's in charge of the Ghealdan mission." She nodded. "Yes, Lord Dragon. I hope we go near my home town, Jheri. I haven't seen my family in seven years." "Is it near the capital?" "About a week's travel." "Perfect. You can Travel, correct?" "Yes." "Excellent." ************* "She did WHAT?" Nabiki asked Kasumi. "She stayed behind to help save that world from being destroyed by an evil god," Kasumi said. "Apparently, about a month passes there for every day here, so she thinks she'll be home in a few weeks." Nabiki sighed. Just when I thought things couldn't get any weirder. "And what am I supposed to tell our school?" "Dr. Tofu will send them a doctor's note that she got...um... Hungarian Swamp Flu." "Hungary doesn't have any swamps." Nabiki scratched her head. Ahah! "I'll tell Principal Kunou she went to Hawaii to offer sacrifice to Pele. With luck, he might even run off to try and help her." "I should have sacrificed him to Pele a long time ago," Cologne said, startling both of them. Kasumi said, "Hello, Cologne-sama. Would you like some tea?" She had made some tea and cookies when she came back; it was quite soothing, which was reassuring. Her burst of...frenzied emotion was fading. Normality was much better. "Yes, please." She hopped over and sat down on Nabiki's desk. "Your sister has travelled to the prime world of which this one is but a twisted reflection." Nabiki blinked. "But how can you be sure it isn't just a twisted reflection of this one?" "I was born there, long, long ago. While the One Power is the hub of the Wheel of Time, that world is the one closest to the hub. This one, on the other hand, is far out near the rim, a faded echo of that one. A much happier world in many ways. I have enjoyed my stay here and the games I have played with you all." "Games?" Nabiki couldn't think of any games she or Kasumi had ever played with Cologne. "But the time has come to put away childish things. Playtime is over. Things are about to become far too serious." "Would you like to be more vague?" Nabiki asked sarcastically. "Or are you just warming up?" "After this, I'm going to go deal with Kodachi. If I do not succeed, she will try to steal the two dimensional travel devices your family has." She thought a moment. "And likely the naniban as well, but I warned Happousai about that. You must make sure she does NOT get them. If she does get one, you'll need to use the other one to warn your sister. If Kodachi enters the prime world, things will be VERY bad." "Define very bad," Nabiki said. "Imagine every molecule in the universe exploding simultaneously, then moving backwards through time." "..." "That's extremely bad, which is only one notch up from this. Kodachi has the potential to be a vastly powerful...magician. If she enters this other world, her potential will awaken. While she will lack training, there are ways the Shadow can get around that. She CANNOT be allowed to have the D-hopper. Under any condition. The prime world does NOT need two Daughters of the Night." "Maybe we should just destroy them, then," Nabiki said. Cologne shook her head. "You will likely need them." She turned to go. "I must hurry; once Kodachi goes on the move, it will be hard for me to find her." "How do we know this isn't part of some plot to get Ranma to marry Shampoo?" Nabiki asked. "How do I know you don't already work for the Shadow? You don't, and neither do I. Does this SOUND like a plot to get Ranma to marry Shampoo?" "It sounds like I'm trapped in the Outer Limits," Nabiki said. "But then again, most of my life is like that these days." "Wish me luck. I fear we shall not meet again in this life," Cologne said, heading out the door. Kasumi frowned. "But you're so strong...who could kill you?" "I know who will kill me. I simply do not know when or if they survive as well," Cologne said. "Perhaps in my next life I will know better than to ask questions which can only bring me dread. Goodbye, Nabiki and Kasumi Tendo." *********** "MOGHEDIEN WILL CARRY OFF EVERYONE WHO STAYS UP TONIGHT TALKING AFTER LIGHTS OUT! THIS I DO FORETELL!" Malindha shouted. Long practice let her do this without laughing. The class of novices stared in shock, then scampered off to their tents with no speech, only squeals of terror. Once they were gone, Malindha let herself laugh. Malindha was an Accepted from Kandor; she was tall with grey eyes and long black hair tied into a braid. She wore a plain white wool dress with a colorful banded hem and the ring that marked her as Accepted. While many in the camp of the Aes Sedai who followed Amyrlin Egwene al'Vere felt swamped by all the novices, she was greatly enjoying the opportunity to use her fake foretelling gag on a nearly infinite number of new novices. Malinda had learned the trick from her father, who had used the stunt to get his children to obey when they were little; he was a gleeman. Carefully studying the few cases of foretelling she had seen, she had mastered the art of faking a foretelling. "You know, one of these days, the Mistress of Novices or one of the Sitters is going to see you do that, and then they will maim you," Olwen said. She was also tall and thin with black hair, but she had a thoughtful look all the time, and bright green eyes. She was one of Malinda's friends, one of the now heavily overworked Accepteds of the camp; there were only twenty of them to help train hundreds of novices. She approved of Egwene's policy; she did NOT approve of all the work it entailed. No time to read any of the books that her mentors wanted her to read (The White Ajah had long had their eye on her), especially the thick volumes Mayle Sedai kept giving her. "If Patri Sedai hadn't run off a year ago, she would have killed you by now." "If Mayle Sedai is right, Patri is probably dead." Malinda sighed. "I liked her. I'm going to be Green, but she was...almost enough to make me think about being a White." "You'd probably fake a Foretelling in the middle of any debate you were losing, anyway." "Why wait for the middle?" Malinda suddenly froze up, her eyes bugging out. Olwen sighed. "I know better, Malinda. You can't fool me with another of your stunts." "CAN DARKNESS SAVE THE LIGHT? ASK THE PLACE WHERE THE SHADOW WAITS. WHEN THE VICTORY OF THE LIGHT IS ALL, IT BECOMES DEFEAT. DENY WHAT YOU ARE AND YOU BECOME WHAT YOU ARE NOT. VEILED HEARTS TURN TO STONE. ONLY IN MADNESS CAN SANITY BE FOUND. ONLY IN SANITY CAN MADNESS BE THROWN DOWN." Malinda was bellowing loud enough to give the Dark One an earache, her eyes bugged out, her body twitching frenetically like someone having a seizure. "THE PLAY'S THE THING, WHEREIN TO PRICK THE CONSCIENCE OF THE KING. LET THE HORSE AND THE CLOUD BESEECH THE HUNTER. LET EVENING'S LADY PLAY FOR THE LORD OF THE MORNING, FOR NONE MAY SING TO THE MORNING WHO HAVE NOT PASSED THROUGH THE NIGHT. THEN THE SHAMROCK MAY SHATTER THE STONE." Olwen laughed. "Now that sounds more like a prophecy than your usual schtick, but you won't fool me again." She'd spent hours rooting through garbage the first time, years ago. "Hmm. Looks like you got Nene Sedai's attention." Nene Sedai strode towards them past several groups of staring novices and a few laughing Accepteds. They cleared the way for her, not so much because of respect for her power and experience as because her staggering warder was carrying a pile of books taller than him which might fall on them if they didn't get out of the way or forced him to stop. Indeed, she was the only Aes Sedai ever chased through the White Tower by someone wielding a stick in living memory. Nene Sedai was short with stark red hair to which she gave more attention than the average Brown; she was from Mayene, and rumor had it that she had some Aiel blood in her, although she certainly didn't act like one. Her bright green eyes usually twinkled with amusement; she had a reputation for practical jokes; today, however, she looked more serious. Her warder was much younger than her, although that still made him older than most of the Accepteds and almost all of the novices, not that being in his late thirties made him ancient. He was Shienarian, tall and barrel chested with dark black hair like all his family; Janis Algin was the third son of a minor noble house of the Borderlands, sent to the Tower because there were no lands for him to inherit. As usual, his hazel eyes darted about, trying to make sure he didn't run into anyone; being harried and worrying about dropping things on people was his normal state. Olwen whispered to Malinda, "Now you're gonna get it," then turned to Nene. "Hello, Nene Sedai. The Light shine upon you." Nene waved her aside, turning to Malinda. "Repeat that." Malinda, who looked somewhat dazed, said, "Repeat what?" Olwen laughed again. "Give it up, Malinda. We're not stupid enough to fall for your act. Not this time." Anya, an Accepted from Arafel who had been raised to Accepted provisionally by the Amyrlin (since she had been set to take her Accepted test two days after the Tower Coup, which was the only reason she hadn't done it), said, "I dunno, Olwen, that looked pretty real to me." Olwen's voice was sharp. "I seem to remember you saying that the time she proclaimed one of the Forsaken was hiding in the kitchens, too." "Uhh..." Anya blushed. "Be quiet," Nene Sedai said, her voice much sharper than usual. "You just said something suspiciously like a Foretelling. Now, I know you are more of a prankster than I am, but all your fake foretellings are tailored to your audience. Therefore, I'm assuming that since no one is running in fear or looking for ter'angreals inside fish, this one was real." Malinda stared at her. "What are you talking about?" "Pricking the conscience of the King and all that. I would repeat it for you, but I know you're faking it." Olwen sighed. Malinda never knew when to give up. Sometimes this was good; usually it was a sign of stupidity. "Isn't the Dragon the Lord of the Morning?" Anya asked. "Yes," Nene said. "Now be quiet. If she says something, drop the books on her, Janis." "Yes, Sedai," he said, wobbling. Quite possibly he might not be able to wait that long. "Now, child, repeat yourself." Malinda thought a moment. I bet Nene Sedai is playing a prank on me; she has a reputation for that. Like the time she started lecturing to her class about the Purple and Pink Ajahs, just to see if they were actually paying attention. Well, she won't fool me this time. "You mean my conversation with Olwen a minute ago?" Nene turned to Olwen. "You say you heard all of it?" "She's just being a twit," Olwen said. "But if you really want me to repeat it..." "Yes." Olwen spent the rest of the day repeating it so many times she started to wonder if she was going to dream about talking clouds. ****************** Cerice and Jur were beginning to become bored out of their minds. They couldn't leave until their relief showed up, but it was starting to become obvious that something had gone wrong, either that or no one had told them they had a ten hour shift instead of an eight hour one. "So how did you end up in this...Hall thing?" Jur asked. "The Whitecloaks wanted to hang me. I was on the scaffold, along with Alya. The Whitecloaks thought she was an Aes Sedai." Cerice blinked, then laughed. "I suppose they were more right than they knew. Maybe one of them had the Foretelling." She threw back her head and laughed so hard she nearly smacked her head on the wall. "I wonder how many men who could learn to channel end up as Whitecloaks... anyway. I was busy consigning my soul to the Creator and Captain Marton to the Dark One when suddenly, this wagon comes crashing through the Whitecloaks. Captain Gorin tries to order his men to attack the wagon, but then...this figure in dark blue leaps out of the wagon and does a flying kick into Captain Gorin, knocking him into one of the support structures on the gallows and the whole thing FALLS DOWN!" "It fell apart?" "No, fell down. The whole structure just toppled over, so that Alya and I slammed into the ground, which wasn't fun. Then Corwin, Alya's brother, leaps off the wagon and cuts us loose and this Taraboner guy, Vanin, who I thought was some kind of peddlar but later turned out to be a noble fires off a bunch of fireworks and starts shouting about channelers. Crazy Whitecloaks running around trying to find the channelers. We all got in the wagon and went racing off. Then they got their act together and chased us. Well, about seven of them did. So Kaneda jumps out of the wagon and beats them all up." Jur stared at Cerise. "You're joking." She shook her head. "Nope. We eventually ended up out in the Mountains of Mist, where we found that thing," she pointed at the twisted archway, "and Kaneda made a deal with the Foxes that gave us all the knowledge of the Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends. Well, full training, anyway. We've noticed that each of us tends to know the most about what we're best at." She laughed. "I break things. VERY well." "That's most of what we learned at the Tower," he said. Cerice blinked. "The White...oh, the Black Tower." He nodded, then stood, looking contemplatively at the doorway. "It's very tempting." "I like being female; I think I'll keep it," Cerice muttered. "Dammit, where the hell are Haile and Dor?" "Haile is on guard duty? She's not very strong, is she?" "With any of the angreal we're guarding she could beat Kaneda in the head, maybe even the Dragon." If she didn't die of embarrassment carrying them, Cerice thought. "I've got one of them right now." The less silly looking of the two here. Alyssa would take the one that wasn't stupid looking. "Can I see it? I've never seen an angreal." "I'll show you the male one." She took him over to the table, and pointed out the crystalline red rose which lay next to an Oath Rod with the number 52 on the end and a large watering can which happened to be a ter'angreal to make plants grow. "I assume it's warded?" She nodded. "Kaneda doesn't usually carry it around because it looks fragile and it's too big to fit in a pocket. It might not be fragile, but we don't want to find out." There was a chime at the door. They'd set up two farspeakers Joan had made so that anyone coming to the room could hail the people inside. I bet Joan's totally clonked out by now, Cerise thought. Even with her using the other angreal. Thank the Creator she likes the really, really stupid looking one. She went over to the Farspeaker; this one was a simple compact box with a sort of grill on the large side and two buttons. One turned it on and off, the other let you talk to people. She pushed it. "Hello?" "This is Sorilea. I have come to use the doorway." "Okay," Cerice said. Kaneda had come by and told them she would be showing up. "I'll have the hot water warmed up when you come out." ************* Ukyou entered T'A'R in her sleep, only to find herself ringed with Wise Ones. There were at least six, staring at her silently. She only recognized one; Bair. "Um, hello?" "I cannot allow you to run loose like this," Bair said. Ukyou frowned. "I choose my own teachers; I don't let them choose me. Now, excuse me, I have an appointment." She concentrated on LINA, but nothing happened. Bair and the silent brigade did something. "Lemme guess, a Wise One trick?" Bair nodded, as did several of the others. "I could kill you, if I desired. Certainly, I...we can bar your passage." Ukyou glanced at the other Wise Ones, who looked back impassively. How can they stand so still, she thought. "And if we were awake, I could kill you. Bullying someone isn't very honorable." "Child, I would be remiss to let you run wild and get yourself killed. A baby does not understand to not stick its hands in a pretty fire, but that doesn't mean you should let it burn itself. Sometimes." Bair shifted slightly on her feet, as did the other Wise Ones. They're an illusion, Ukyou thought. It's just her, but she's trying to intimidate me with numbers. This is just like Cologne's trick. She focused her will on one of the Wise Ones, who popped out of existence. Ukyou grinned. "Next time, bring the real thing." Bair smiled just a tiny bit and let the rest of the illusionary Wise Ones pop out of existence. "I should not have made so many at once." "Silent people don't scare me much," Ukyou said. "Look, why don't I take you to meet LINA? You might change your mind." "All right." She held out a hand and Ukyou took it. They winked out. *********** LINA said to Bair via one of her speakers. "Hari Modele? Year 5,296?" Bair asked. Bair frowned slightly. "You're thousands of years old?" There was a pause. Ukyou got to see a Wise One face fault for the first time in her life. ************ Malinda was wishing no one had ever invented the concept of Foretelling. Maybe I really DID have one, she thought. But I still think Olwen is getting even for the garbage of the Dragon incident. She glanced over at Olwen and Anya, who looked exhausted, and at Nene and Mayle Sedai, who both looked like they could keep this up all night. Mayle even looked less depressed than usual; her hazel eyes darted back and forth as people spoke. She was stout and black haired, a White sister of Shienarian ancestry from Murandy (a long story). While not strong in the Power, she was a keen minded White, who rarely needed the Power; you couldn't solve a logic problem with a flow of air. She was Olwen's mentor, and she and Olwen were continuing to pick apart the foretelling with help from Nene Sedai and useless comments from Anya. "Perhaps Veiled Hearts is a reference to the Aiel," was her latest one. "Although I did read this novel of romance called Veiled Hearts in Tanchico. It was pretty good, although I really couldn't see how anyone could eat through a veil. Ooooh...maybe it's someone from Tarabon! They wear veils. Patri Sedai was from Tarabon. But she's not here...ummm..." "So was my mother," Mayle said flatly. "I haven't seen any Taraboners turn to stone lately." "I'm trying to figure out what a 'play' is," Nene Sedai said. "It's not the Old Tongue..." "Children play," Anya said. "I doubt children playing is what this means," Nene said. "How would a group of children playing prick a King's conscience?" "And what's a Shamrock?" Olwen asked. "And how is a Cloud supposed to beseech a hunter?" Mayle frowned. "It's the reference to Evening's Lady which disturbs me." Nene shuddered. "Not Lanfear, I hope." "Who else could it be?" Although Daughter of the Night isn't QUITE the same thing. Mayle thought. "What's a Shamrock?" Anya asked again. "A fake stone," Malinda said, yawning. "The Tairens aren't gonna be too happy when the Stone is shattered." "Perhaps it's some kind of Seanchan monster," Nene Sedai said. "Or a channeling weave. There's so many with weird names, like 'The Hedgehog can never be buggered at all'. We've been trying for centuries to figure out what that one was." "A pig that lives under a hedge?" Anya asked. Things could only go downhill from there. ************* Akane was woken up in the middle of the night by Jur Grady who looked as exhausted as she felt. "Where is our relief?" "Hrr...mmrry...Haile and Morr didn't show up?" "Morr finally did. He went looking for her and couldn't find her." Akane stumbled into her clothing, doused herself in case there was going to be trouble, woke up Alyssa, and they went hunting with Jur. They finally found Haile in Vanin's quarters. A lord and lady of Tarabon, Kaneda thought. Makes sense, but this wasn't the right time for this. Watching them panic when she woke them up was almost worth having been woken up in the middle of the night. With some chastising, she sent Haile on her way with Morr to guard the treasure house of Power artifacts. Jur and Cerice had another issue to bring up as well. "Sorilea went in hours ago and hasn't come out." "Damnation," Kaneda said. "Cerice. Go tell the Wise Ones. No, on second thought, I will. Go gather the Hall. Just in case we need them. Alyssa, you and Jur should go join Morr and Haile." He soon reached the camp of the Wise Ones, who were not thrilled at being woken up in the middle of the night. They were even LESS thrilled when they found Sorilea snoozing in her tent. He had to wake Sorilea herself; no one else was willing to do it. "Sorilea." She blinked, then stared at him. "What are you doing here at..." She looked up at the other Wise Ones. "Who let him in here?" "Have you been here all night?" "Since returning from seeing the Foxes, yes." Kaneda frowned. "How did you get out without anyone seeing you?" "There is more than one way out of any place," she said. "I wish to sleep. Goodnight, Kaneda of Tendo." With that, she rolled over and her eyes closed. On an impulse, Kaneda decided to go check on Dora. He had just a generally bad feeling. She was sleeping like a baby with Balin and Dor half sleep on guard duty, trying to play a riddle game to keep awake. "Has she done anything unusual?" Balin started. "She keeps mumbling some name in her sleep. At least I think it's a name. You can't hear it well, though. And something about a staircase." Dor said, "There's gotta be SOME way we can keep her restrained without us all having to take shifts guarding her." "Not unless she was willing to swear on the Oath Rod, which she isn't. I'm sorry, but there's not much choice. It's my turn tomorrow morning. I'll be back to relieve you in a few hours." They nodded. "Go get some...yawn...sleep," Dor said. *********** Two days passed without much incident. Akane sent Balin and Dor with several of her non-channeling followers to Ebou Dar to do some spying. Akane, Ukyou, and Ranma taught martial arts. Ukyou worked with the society that had asked her to teach them and studied in the library. Ranma went hunting with Perrin. Akane worked with the various scholars at Rand's schools and continued organizing classes. She and Alyssa began training with the Wise Ones in Tel'aran'rhiod. Several members of the hall began sweeping Cairhien for possible channelers and found a good thirty novices. Life began to settle into a routine. Soon enough, however, that ritual was disrupted. Early in the morning of the third day, Alyssa had to slip out of the city, taking one of the Angreal, a ter'angreal to enter Tel'aran'rhiod, and two Farspeakers. She joined Perrin's brigade of travellers. Two dozen Maidens of the Spear. A single male Aielman named Gaul. Two dozen Tairen and Cairhienin noble youth who followed Faile. Faile herself. Perrin, of course. Two Asha'man named Jur Grady and Fager Neald. Six Wise Ones and two Aes Sedai. Three, really, but the third was Berelain's advisor while the first two were in the care of the Wise Ones. A Tinker named Aram and hundreds of Two Rivers archers. Berelain herself, Bertain Gallene, the Lord Captain of her Winged Guards, and nine hundred Winged Guards. Alyssa stared in shock; she hadn't realized she was being sent with a full army. With a...a queen. She had seen Berelain around the palace and knew who they were, but they had never met face to face. Perrin called Alyssa over and introduced her to Jur Grady, who was an older farmer, and Fager, who looked like he wanted to be a noble but wasn't. She recognized Jur Grady from a few nights earlier, although her memory of that was a blur. "This is our guide, Alyssa of the Hall," he said. Fager, who Alyssa guessed was just a little older than herself, bowed. "A pleasure to meet such a lovely woman." He kissed her hand and she blushed. "So you are from Ghealdan?" Alyssa nodded. "And you?" "Murandy." Faile smiled graciously. "Would you ride with me, Alyssa? I would like to converse with you." "Sure," Alyssa said. She looked back towards Cairhien and sighed. "I wish Kaneda could have come with us." "I'm sure he has duties, as do we all," Faile said. She turned to Perrin. "I think everyone is here?" He glanced over at Berelain and frowned. "More than I anticipated." *********** "My Lord Agelmar," Hurin said nervously, "there's going to be trouble." Lord Agelmar, who had been on the verge of riding out to hunt one last time before beginning a journey to attend King Easar on his trip to meet several of his fellow Borderlander monarchs, paused with one foot in the saddle, and said, "You've spotted Trollocs in the area? A Myrddraal?" Hurin shifted back and forth nervously on his feet. "I'm not sure, my lord. There's violence in the air. And..." Now he looked at the horse instead of his lord. "Depression." Agelmar blinked. "Depression?" "There are wifts of it, but...I can't track it to the source. It comes and it goes." He shifted nervously again. "I don't understand it." "It's hardly a crime to be depressed, Hurin," Agelmar said. "Living near the Blight makes us all gloomy at times." "Not this gloomy. I normally can't smell emotions like that. And never so strong. It's like a piece of the Blight got up and wandered into Fal Dara. It comes and it goes like...like a Myrddraal." Agelmar frowned and turned to one of his liegemen. "Trak." Trak was a short and wiry Shienarian, with hazel eyes and long black hair gathered into a top knot as was the Shienarian custom. "Yes, Lord?" "Take 20 men and examine the places Hurin shows you. It's probably just someone feeling bad, but...best to be sure." "Yes, Lord." Trak saluted, then went to gather twenty men. ************ "Why can't we go back to the Palace?" Olver demanded. "Or at least go outside? This inn is BORING me!" "Because your...Because Mat's friends are still trying to find him," Setalle Anan said. I can't blame the child for being agitated. He'd be more agitated if he knew Mat was dead. He must be; either that or he's been drafted into the Seanchan army. The Seanchan had been carting off idle men and forming military units from them; still, if you didn't cause trouble, the Seanchan didn't cause you trouble, which was more than she could say about how the country had been run before; not that she wouldn't have gotten rid of the Seanchan in a minute if she could wiggle her fingers at them and make them go poof. Not any more. The tensions of the city were slowly building; too many people had challenged Seanchan to a duel, won, then been executed. That wasn't the Ebou Dari way. Not to mention they'd carried off one of her maids and...leashed the poor woman. And the Wise Women...most of them had been carried off as well. We'll have a plague before all is done, Setalle thought. The door swung open; new customers she hoped; the Seanchan were hurting her business. She recognized the two scamps immediately, although she hadn't seen them in several years. They'd gotten older, but looked less wise if anything. "I take it you've decided the Candlemaker's guild has forgotten you?" she said. Balin laughed nervously, running his fingers through his short black hair, while his twin brother Dor fingered his knife as if he expected Setalle to stab him. "We settled up with them this morning." Setalle raised an eyebrow. "Who did you rob to get enough money? Or have you really done that well for yourselves out in the countryside?" "We've been in the service of a lord," Dor said, pulling out a large pouch of coins from the sack he had slung over his shoulder. He tossed a gold one to Setalle. "How long can we stay here on that?" She stared at the coin, then bit it. Real gold. "Served a lord or robbed one?" "You know we wouldn't steal!" Balin said. "We didn't steal those candles and you know it! We were robbed!" She believed them on that, but the idea that any lord would be fool enough to take these two into his service...then she thought about Lord Mat and suddenly it seemed more plausible. "What Lord have you been serving?" "Lord Kaneda from...Tarabon," Balin said. "He sent us to...ummm..." Setalle Anan shook her head. "To spy on the Seanchan." "No! no!...um...yes." Dor said. She glanced out the door and across the square at the palace. Fools, she thought. I should take them to their mother and have her spank them. "You have noticed the Seanchan troops guarding the palace across the square?" Balin's eyes opened wide. "Oh yeah, the Palace is over there...why aren't any Seanchan staying here?" "I don't know and I don't want to know," she said. They had come in on the first day, looked around, and never came back. It made her nervous. She and her husband had taken the oaths; she hadn't wanted to and she didn't really respect the oath; an oath made at swordpoint was no oath; but it still made her nervous. Thom walked in, harp under his shoulder. Olver ran over to him. "Have you found Mat yet?" He looked around Thom as if he expected maybe Thom had hidden Mat under his cloak. Fergin walked in behind Thom and patted Olver on the head. He was a tall skinny man, half Thom's age or younger. "Not yet, but we think we know where he is now." "He's in..." Thom noticed Balin and Dor and glanced over Setalle Anan. "This is Balin and his twin brother Dor. Their mother is a friend of mine," Setalle said. "They're both peddlars out in the countryside. They've come home to visit their family and see old friends. Balin, Dor, this is Jacinth, a gleeman and his apprentice Col, and a boy, Olver, who they are taking care of. They've been looking for his foster-father, who got lost during the Seanchan attack." "His name isn't Jacinth! It's Thom!" Olver said. "Are you feeling sick? Maybe I should get you a Wise Woman." For a moment, Setalle's motherly instincts were replaced with homocidal ones. The moment passed and she continued, "Don't mind the boy. He's distraught." "Can you show us our rooms? I'd like to put all my stuff down," Dor said, glancing at the newcomers. "A pleasure to meet you all." "And you," Thom said. As she took them upstairs, Balin said, "That boy is even uglier than our cousin Georg. I didn't think that was possible." "And he's smarter than both of you, which is all too possible," Setalle muttered to herself. ************ Mat was no longer chained upside down, but rather upside up, although he wasn't sure why. Some tattooed fellow had come and asked him a bunch of questions that made no sense. What was the Tower of Ravens or the Crystal Throne? The words 'Court of the Nine Moons', however, evoked thoughts he didn't want. If I end up married to some Seanchan...Not to mention the fellow had been practically obsessed with where Mat had gotten his ring and spear and foxhead. At least I managed to convince them I can't channel, he thought. Suroth was supposed to come talk to him; Mat had a creeping feeling she was going to announce to him that she was the Daughter of the Nine Moons, let's get married right away, or some such thing. "Such an unhappy Duckling," a voice he knew far too well but hadn't expected to see, said. It was Tylin, who was wearing a rough brown woolen shift and not much else. Her hair was gathered into a bun, and she had a metal band around her right wrist; it looked like one of the cuffs around his wrists, but with no chain attached, although there were two half-circles of metal protruding on one side you could attach a chain to. She held a tray of food. She held up several slivers of apple. "Open your mouth and let the boats into the harbor." Mat let them in; he was too hungry to argue, although he was rather thoroughly embarrassed by the whole thing. "They've turned you into a serving maid?" "Joline and Teslyn have been leashed. My son and I have been declared da'covale now. We would not swear to them. They don't have your friends; they seem to have vanished as if they had never existed, as far as I can tell." "I told them to go and not come back. Elayne's probably on the Lion Throne by now." I kept my promise, he thought. Not that I'll ever get to tell Rand about it. More food went into his mouth. "Have they asked you to swear yet?" She had to wait for him to chew. "Just asked a lot of questions that make no sense." He sighed. "And took everything I own. Except my hat." Not that I need one indoors, he thought. ************** Perrin's army/diplomatic missionary force moved through the countryside of Ghealdan. Grady and Fagin had opened two large gates through which the force had moved. Perrin was riding back and forth between all the groups while Alyssa rode with Faile. She noticed several of the Cairhienin nobles lurking near Faile, but trying to look like they weren't really lurking and it was all just a coincidence they were riding near Faile all the time no matter what happened. "Are you enjoying your ride, Lady Alyssa?" Faile asked. Alyssa tried to not fall off her horse; riding wasn't her strong point. "Just...fine." The angreal tried to fall off her head; it was a golden tiara with an emerald set in a small square which bulged out upon her brow from the fairly thin rest of it. Normally, it stayed on quite snugly, but the ride was jarring it loose. She pushed it back into place. "So how did you get a Saferian tiara? Family heirloom?" Faile asked. "My mother has one like that; with a ruby set in it." "We found it in a cave," Alyssa said. "Along with the doorway and other things." She nodded. "The Saferian royal family wore them. It looks lovely on you." Blushing a little, Alyssa said, "Thank you. I'm not used to all this...finery." She looked down at her dress, which was much more suited for being in a palace than for riding a horse, a dream of satin and lace and silk in yellow and blue, with multiple parted skirts and ruffled sleeves and enough ties, ribbons, and buttons for a dozen men. "I'm just a blacksmith's daughter." "And I'm married to a blacksmith. As my father says, scratch a noble and you'll find a farmer three generations back. There's no shame in that." She paused. "I wouldn't have married Perrin if I cared for such things." Her smile made Alyssa feel much better and less intimidated. "You're like no Aes Sedai I've ever met." She glanced back at the Wise Ones and their two 'apprentices'. "Which is why I want to make a request of you." Alyssa gulped. "Sure." "Every ruler needs an Aes Sedai advisor. Even a two-bit trollop like Berelain has one." Faile glared razors over her shoulder towards the Mayeners. Alyssa stared in shock. Calling a queen a trollop? Alyssa wouldn't have had the courage to do that even without the Queen listening. "My husband needs one; he doesn't trust Aes Sedai easily, but you...I believe he can trust you. Would you like the job?" "Umm...sure." Alyssa said. "At least for this trip." She looked around. "We should reach my hometown in two days. Would you...like to meet my parents?" They'll have a heart attack and die, she thought. A thought struck her. "Why did we bring only female Aiel except for...umm...that one guy." "Gaul. He is one of my husband's close friends." She smiled. "Rand sent the Maidens because he trusts them. Gaul came because he is my husband's friend. And...he has other reasons of his own." Alyssa nodded. "I wish Kaneda could have come with me." "He seems like a good man. Woman. Umm..." For the first time, Faile seemed nervous. "He'll always be a man to me," Alyssa said quietly. "I should trust him, but...I don't like leaving him with his ex- fiancee." "Ranko...Ranma?" "I'm sure he won't do anything, but...I just...I hate not knowing." "Men can be complete idiots, and usually are, but you have to trust them or love is impossible." Faile frowned. "Although even trust doesn't make it easy." Alyssa agreed completely. ************ Teaching a class full of Aes Sedai was a great way to go mad fast. I wish I had Alyssa here, Kaneda thought. Not that Lori can't help me demonstrate linking between sexes as well as Alyssa, but... It wasn't that he sensed Alyssa was in danger; she was in no danger whatsoever as far as he could tell from her bond. However, he hoped there was some secret trick she might know to get them to shut up and listen. They weren't all that bad. Cadsuane and the Browns usually didn't cause trouble. If they were all like Verin, who just drank in every drop of channeling or other knowledge from the lessons she could get, Kaneda would have been a happy man. Unfortunately, one of the two Browns was gone now, sent to Ghealdan. And she wasn't happy about it. Neither was Kaneda, as it reduced the student to big mouth ratio. With Merana gone to Caemlyn on a mission for Rand and Seonid and Masuri gone to Ghealdan, the class consisted of Rafela Cindal (Blue), Verin (Brown), Cadsuane, Alanna Mosvai, Kiruna Hachiman, Bera, and Faeldrin (Green), and Samitsu (Yellow) in its female half, while the male half of the class consisted of Fedwin Morr, Damer Flinn, Dashiva, Narishma, and Jur Adley. Kaneda had Alain and Basel standing by to make up the balance, since they only had five Ash'aman students. They were standing in one end of the palace courtyard while various people beat each other up in the combat lessons in the other end of the courtyard. The Ash'aman had put up a barrier of air after an accident with two out of control mini-spatulas the previous day; Kaneda wasn't sure if the band of would-be Aiel Cairhienin nobles who now took Ukyou as a role model were completely or only partially insane. Lori smiled at Kaneda, who felt his whole body reacting. How does she DO that, he wondered. He had been told all Domani women were like that, but he couldn't believe it. How would they get anything done? "Are you ready, Lord Kaneda?" "Yes. Are all of you ready? Chosen partners?" Samitsu practically had Flinn in a headlock. He looked like a deer caught in headlights. Cadsuane had selected Alain. Fedwin Morr looked like he was posing with his mother or even grandmother, standing next to Verin. Kiruna and Bera were still sizing up the Ash'aman, while Faeldrin had grabbed Basel since they were both Taraboners. Alanna seemed somewhat distracted. Narishma and Jur Adley were whispering back and forth, pointing at Kiruna, Bera, and Alanna, while Dashiva muttered to himself. Kaneda tapped his foot. "We don't have all day." Kiruna said, "I prefer to not rush my decisions." Bera nodded. "Rash decisions lead to disaster." Alanna said, "He's worried about something." Several people muttered back and forth, and Kaneda heard Dashiva mutter to himself, "And they say we go mad." Jur Adley walked over and took Alanna by the hand. "I'll do her." Several people stared at him. "What? What?" Narishma nodded and went over to Kiruna. "Done, Lord Kaneda." Dashiva sighed. "Great, I get the ugly one." "The UGLY one?" Bera's eyes flashed. "Well, you do look like you belong on a farm, and he is from one," Alanna said. "Delightful," Kaneda said. "Look, we're not setting up marriages, you just need someone to practice with. Now, watch carefully." He and Lori grasped the Source. It was a raging torrent, a whirlwind, a firestorm. And he loved every second of it. The protection the Foxes had given him still held. Glancing at the Ash'aman with him, they felt the same. Fedwin smiled at him; he was the youngest, not much older than himself. It came upon Kaneda again that he was the youngest person present. For a moment, he was not Lord Kaneda, but only Akane Tendo, who would still have been in school without even a high school degree at home, facing a horde of people who would have sent Miss Hinako fleeing for the hills. The moment passed; he could not feel such things for long when he held the Power. "Now, in a one man, one woman link, the man must lead." Faces fell all over the room, all of them female. Only Verin and Cadsuane seemed to not be disappointed. The men, on the other hand, grinned. "However, only women can initiate a link. Men can never link to each other without a woman; women don't need men to link with each other." Now it was the turn of the men to not be pleased. "We'll start with a simple link of man to woman, then build up to larger groups, until finally we'll link everyone in the room." Bera said, "We have too many people for that." Verin shook her head. "If everyone was female, we'd have too many. More can link with men in the link. Up to 72, according to the records, although why only seventy-two...I have no idea." "Now, you will have to weave a flow of spirit, men. The women prepare for the link in the usual way," Kaneda said. "The men must form a pipe of spirit. Once you form it, I suggest forming a flow of air and fire around it so it is visible, until you get the knack of it. Then the women extend their flow of spirit down the pipe to the man." He and Lori demonstrated, and he could feel the power coming from her, though he couldn't see it. Soon the air was full of weirdly glowing pipes and amorphous ropes flapping around as everyone tried to follow the directions. Cadsuane and Alain got it right in seconds; Dashiva and Bera were second. The lesson was interrupted by a voice saying, "What under the Light is going on?" The voice was harsh, deep, and male. "Who's in charge here?" Kaneda turned to the dark-haired hawk-nosed man who stood near him. Where the man had come from, or he was, Kaneda didn't know. He was nicely dressed in a dark blue coat, black trousers, and a green shirt embroidered in gold. A sword pin and a dragon pin marked him as a member of the highest rank of the Ash'aman, an Ash'aman proper. The Ash'aman all left their pipes of spirit floating in the air and saluted. "M'hael!" Kaneda said, "I'm the leader here. You must be Mazrim Taim." "Yes. And who are you?" He sounded suspicious and angry. Lori spoke cooly, her voice dripping icicles. "He is Lord Kaneda of House Tendo, the head of the Hall of Servants." Several of the Aes Sedai muttered under their breath, and Dashiva cackled faintly. "At the command of the Lord Dragon, we are training those who serve him personally in the arts at our command." "Hall of the..." Taim thought a moment. "Ahh, the group that claims they know everything." Kiruna, Bera, and Rafela laughed. Several of the others smiled. The older members of the Ash'aman laughed a little as well. "And you're the False Dragon who got his butt kicked because he couldn't stay on a horse," Basel observed. That got more laughs, though all of the Ash'aman fell silent the second Taim looked at them. "And we do know everything, in comparison to you." Taim laughed. "I'll believe that when I see it. Only the Lord Dragon knows as much as I do." He looked levelly at Kaneda. "I understand you've passed through a twisted doorway." "Yes. That's how we gained our knowledge." "And what price did you pay?" His voice was tense. Many eyes swivelled and watched Kaneda, both Aes Sedai and Ash'aman. "I am bound to the Wheel, bound to this world, to know no release until Tarmon Gai'don is over." Kaneda said quietly. "And what price did you pay?" "I had to smash a statue," he said. "It wasn't easy." He blinked, then frowned at Kaneda. "Ahh, I see. You're teaching them to link." Kaneda nodded. "Want to join the class?" Taim frowned, looking at each of the students, then noticed Basel and Alain. "Who are they?" "Part of the Hall," Kaneda said. "Alain and Basel. Alain is as strong as I am. And Basel is fairly strong." Taim turned and looked at Kaneda, his eyes boring into Kaneda's head with the intensity of his stare. Kaneda could feel him grasping more and more Power. "And how strong might that be?" Kaneda wove a Mind Touch to Lori. 'I have a bad feeling about this'. He dropped his link with Lori and began grasping more Power, not using the male angreal, a crystalline rose, that he held in one hand, though ready to use it. He reached his limit, but Taim kept going. He was strong. Very strong. He might be able to match the Lord Dragon, Kaneda thought. Or close. A lot more than I. "You're strong." Taim smiled more openly than before. "So are you. But not as strong as I." Samitsu said, "A heron blade in a child's hands will win no battles." Taim glared at her, while several of the Aes Sedai smiled. "A child?" "I suppose this is when you beat on your chest and proclaim how mighty you are," Samitsu said. "But skill is more important than raw power." "I have channeled longer than any other male channeler not yet gone mad," Taim said. "I am no child to the Power. And I know a few things I'm sure you do not." Basel snorted. "Besides being obnoxious?" "I'm sure you're much better than I am at that," Taim said to Basel. "Thanks to our newest recruit, I have puzzled out an ancient mystery." His smile was confident now. "What is the one thing besides Death that cannot be healed?" "The Taint," Kiruna said. "Besides that." Silence, followed by whispers, followed by, "Stilling." Cadsuane said flatly. "Not any more. Stilling can be Healed." Taim said. Every eye focused on Taim, with reactions ranging from shock to awe to disbelief to Dashiva muttering, "It's about time." "You have proof?" Samitsu said in disbelief. "Logain now holds the rank of Ash'aman among the Ash'aman," Taim said. Most of the Aes Sedai turned white as a sheet, the Ash'aman stared in shock, Dashiva tapped a finger thoughtfully on his cheek, and Jur Grady said, "The False Dragon of Ghealdan?" "But he was at..." Bera began, then stopped. "You have him? How did you get him?" "He escaped his captors." Taim grinned. "The Aes Sedai make poor jailors for an intelligent man. Where is the Dragon? I must take him this news." "Gone to Illian," Kaneda said. "How is it done?" Samitsu demanded. "I MUST know." Taim formed a weave, which every male in the place stared at intently as if his life depended on it. He grinned at the women. "Here it is. Oh, YOU can't see it." Samitsu's teeth ground so loudly, the Dark One probably heard it. "Learn it well, Flinn." Dashiva was finally paying attention for once. "Amazing. So simple and yet so..." "It works on those who burnt out as well. Although, oddly, it works better on women than men. Women regain their full strength, men are not as strong as they once were," Taim said. "But I'm sure there's one for women to do that will heal men to full strength. Hopefully, it won't take them three thousand years to figure it out." He smirked again. "I must find the Lord Dragon. Illian? Right." A gateway opened. He looked around at the still glowing objects floating in the air. "You know, that looks rather like..." He laughed faintly. "Still, as good a way to teach linking as any." "Wait, how do you know it works better on women?" Kiruna asked. "Take a wild guess," Taim said. He vanished through the gateway. "He stilled an Aes Sedai just to test it," Kiruna said flatly. "Then probably stilled her again," Bera said. She frowned intently. "Logain," Faeldrin said, shuddering. "He smashed Ghealdan to pieces. Now he can channel again." "Not our problem," Kaneda said. Well, that wasn't as bad as it COULD have been, he thought. No wonder the Dragon keeps Taim off on that farm; I wouldn't want to see him every day, either. "Back to linking." With a little practice, they soon got the hang of it, then began forming larger and larger circles. Since a circle (except for two men and a woman or a woman and a man) always had to have more women than men, Kaneda stayed out of the largest circle they formed, seven men and eight women. Lori led the link. Her face glowed with joy. "I feel like I could fly," she said quietly. "That's another lesson," Kaneda said, laughing. ************ Trak stared at the door. "The path leads here?" Hurin sighed. "Yes. I know it doesn't make sense." "It's a FLAMING CLOSET," Masin, another Shienarian soldier with a nasty scar across his face from temple to chin, said. "How'd he get out of the bloody closet?" "It must be some kind of strange Myddraal," Hurin said. "Not too many places better than a closet for shadows." The last three places where Hurin had sniffed out... whatever he had sensed, all passed through doors and vanished as well. Passed through doors. Trak turned to Hurin. "Every time it vanishes, it goes through a door, right?" "Right." "Maybe that's the key." The explosion that rocked the palace knocked most of them down, but soon they were back up and running. ************* As Alyssa rode with Faile, Tyr came riding up, with Sera following him, armed with a crossbow. "There you are!" he said. "Kaneda sent me to be your bodyguard." He glanced over at Sera. "And Sera...volunteered herself for the job too." Sera grinned. "Finally, no Joan around to get in our way." Alyssa sighed mentally. Joan and Sera both wanted Tyr but didn't seem able to tell he wasn't interested in either of them. Not unless he habitually hid from people he liked. "Thank you, Tyr." She turned to Faile. "This is Tyr, one of Kaneda's best students in Martial Arts. And this is Sera, who is decent." Faile blinked. "Your hair is blue." Sera blushed. "A long story." Perrin rode up. "Hi, Tyr." He looked at Sera. "Is your hair..." "YES!" Faile turned to Perrin. "Alyssa Sedai has graciously offered to advise us in matters of the Power and such things. Should we need such information or aid." Alyssa blinked. He nodded. "Good. I have no idea what Seonid and Masuri might get up to, and the Wise Ones..." He shook his head. "Just don't call me Lord Perrin." Faile frowned. Alyssa said, "And you can just call me Alyssa. So where are we, exactly?" "About a week and a half from Jehannah. We could have landed closer, but we wanted some time to gather information and be sure of what we're doing. We're here to deal with Masema and offer Queen Alliandre the protection of the Lord Dragon." "In what direction?" "We're east of Jehannah." She looked around and smiled. I thought I knew this area. "We're about three days from my family's village. If we could drop by, I'd appreciate it. I haven't seen my family since I was fourteen, when I was taken to the Tower." Sera blinked. "Seven years?" "Long years." Alyssa said. She turned to Perrin. "My father is a blacksmith like you." Perrin's face lightened as he smiled. "Perhaps he'll let me use his forge." "He'll probably try to convince you to stay and be his apprentice," Alyssa said. "I wish," Perrin muttered. *********** Olwen finished repeating the prophecy for the Amyrlin Seat. It was hard to forget the Amyrlin had come into the Tower years after Olwen had become a novice. Malinda and the others sat nearby. I need to force Malinda to learn this; she's the one who made it, Olwen thought. "The Lord of the Morning is the Dragon, of course," Egwene said. "But Evening's Lady..." She turned to Sheriam, who sat nearby. "Any clues?" "The Kaerethon Cycle refers to the Prince of the Morning singing to the mountains. The Place where the Shadow Waits is Shadar Logoth, of course." Sheriam tapped her cheek idly. "The Shamrock is probably some sort of sa'angreal if it's capable of shattering the Stone of Tear." Olwen frowned. "Why would we want to? Tear is no enemy of ours or the Dragon. Well, not of the Dragon, anyway." "Veiled hearts..." the Amyrlin said. "Evening's Lady has to be someone good. A leader of the Light, female." "Ahah!" Nene said. "The Play's the thing. Not just children play! Playing an instrument!" "So Evening's Lady is a gleeman?" Anya asked. "Ahah!" Nene said again. "Probably someone whose name means 'Evening's Lady' in the Old Tongue." The Amyrlin frowned. "Another of my headaches. With the usual terrible timing." Halima looked up from taking notes for Egwene. "Should I?" "Not yet." "It's this thing about finding sanity in madness that bothers me," Olwen said. "There is no sanity in madness." "There's a damaged ter'angreal in the Tower," Nene Sedai said. "If you touch it, it plays the phrase 'Can I play with Madness?' over and over again, along with some garbled words and wretched music." She paused. "Probably not relevant." Mayle Sedai said, "Have you read the writings of Stefan al'Donal, Olwen?" "Who?" "He wrote around the fourth century after the Breaking in Jaramide. He wrote an odd little book called 'Strength Through Paradox', the only one of his works to survive. About half of it is actually about whether we are bound by the same moral imperatives in a dream as in reality, but his main point is about how strength can be found in the collision of opposites, in the paradox of two contradictory things both having to be true at once." Everyone watched Mayle, hoping she was going to get to the point before they all died of old age or their brains died. "The Source, for example, is full of both Saidin and Saidar, even though no one who wields it can open themselves to both. Heroes of the Horn are dead, but live. One of his central ideas was that one had to die, in order to live. Although he never makes it clear how to accomplish that." "And?" Sheriam asked. "Just as a broken arm heals stronger, perhaps one who has gone mad will be stronger when restored to sanity," she said. "But we can't help someone with the Power who has gone mad," Anya said. "Or all the male channelers wouldn't have to worry about going mad." "We thought we couldn't heal Stilling too," the Amyrlin said. "Perhaps this prophecy is a clue to how to heal madness." "Dreamwalking," Nene said. "Was used in the treatment of madness in the Age of Legends. We know that much. And used by the Shadow to drive men and women mad. We need a Dreamwalker." The Amyrlin smiled. "Like me?" "Now we just have to drive someone mad as a test case," Nene mused. "Let's not," Malinda said. "Oooh...idea!" "Go on." "The Hunter could be a Hunter of the Horn!" "That only narrows it down to a few thousand people," Olwen said sarcastically. "Scattered all over the continent. Unless perhaps you've got Rogosh Eagle-Eye or Gaidal Cain in your pocket?" "At this rate, I'll be needing a cure for madness soon," Malinda muttered. ************* Trak and his band stared at the rubble in shock. An entire wing of the fortress was crushed to powder. The strangest part was that no one had been hurt by the explosion; only if rubble fell on them had they sustained injuries. Good thing many of us are about to march, he thought. There went my bedroom. The survivors for the most part had no clue what happened, although everyone was sure it must have been channeling. Only a single woman had a clue. It had been some fellow in yellow and black with woolen leggings and a yellow and black strip of cloth around his head. He had howled something about 'Akane', then he had...exploded. A wave of darkness had erupted out from him, shattering everything. Then a few seconds later, a woman in brown had grabbed him by the ear and dragged him off. Trak shook his head. A new Dreadlord. It had to be...but... He stared off to the North. I pray we can fix the damage before the Trollocs come again. ************** Ranma relaxed as he walked out of the bathing room. There were few things he liked better than a nice hot bath after a workout. He had been teaching all morning and all afternoon. The students learned quickly. His stomach growled loudly. "Hungry?" a woman's voice asked him. It was Min. "Rand's run off to Illian and left me here; I was about to get some food then go looking for you." "Food. Yes." Ranma said. "Ucchan should be out in a minute." He glanced down the hallway towards the women's bathing chambers. "So he didn't take you?" "He's going to be dealing with bandits and whatnot." She frowned. "He says it's too dangerous for me." "He's probably right," Ranma said. "Fighting is men's work." Her frown deepened. "Says the man with a female bodyguard?" Ranma's mouth opened, then shut, then opened again, but only some incoherent half-words that died at birth came out. "Ucchan...she...uh...We..." Min leaned against the wall. "I think you and Rand fell off the same turnip wagon." She turned to Ranma again, staring intently. "Do you keep track of..." "Of?" "Rand can't stand to see a woman get hurt. If one tried to kill him, he'd probably let her." Her voice was low and a little angry. "Wool headed sheepherder that he is." "I ain't that crazy," Ranma said. "There's a big difference between not attacking women and just letting them kill you. Hit you, maybe, but not kill you." Memories of many beatings flitted through his head. "It ain't manly to fight girls, but it ain't sensible to let people just kill you." Min shook her head. "You didn't say anything like this in the Tower." Ranma blushed a little and stared at the ground. "I had to pretend I was a girl. I had to...be careful about what I said. And after being there for months, I was almost...I was starting to feel like I was...I mean, I stayed in my girl body for five months, and then when I was running around with Nynaeve and Elayne and Egwene for four months, I hardly ever changed. I couldn't...I was afraid that..." His voice was faint. "I couldn't even tell my closest friends. I thought everyone would think I was a freak." Min looked Ranma up and down. He was shaking faintly and he looked close to crying. Every time I think I know you, you surprise me, she thought. "I don't think you're a freak. I'm hardly one to talk, dressing as a boy all the time." Ranma laughed a little. "I'm engaged to someone who does that. I'm used to it. And most women in my world dress the same as men a lot of the time, anyway." "So how exactly did you end up in the Tower, anyway?" "I blew up some Trollocs with one of my chi attacks when I saw they were attacking this woman. It had been raining, and I was in my girl body. Then more Trollocs showed up. Massive fight. I got knocked out. I woke up in the Tower with this woman, a Brown named Nene Sedai, a Blue named Leane, and the Amyrlin Seat, all sitting in chairs by me. Before I knew what was going on, I had been enrolled as a novice and they used a trick with water and fire to make sure I wouldn't change sex, no matter how hot the water was." Ranma laughed. "I had cold baths and cold tea, no matter what I did. Cold everything. Nearly drove me nuts at times. I could eat hot solid food, but stew or tea or...boom, cold as ice." He blinked. "Hmm. I bet I could inverse that and stay in my boy form or keep Ukyou in her girl form. Yeah." He smiled. "I wouldn't mind seeing my friends from the Tower again, despite all the trouble I had there, like that incident with the cats." Ranma shuddered. "Malinda and Olwen and Nene Sedai and Egwene and Nynaeve and Elayne and all. Even Anya and her big mouth." "You might get your chance," Min said. "Rand's decided he needs to send some people to Egwene's group and set up permanent communications. You want to be one of them?" Ranma grinned, turning the golden serpent ring he was wearing on one hand round and round. "Sure. They'll just die when they see my warder." Min blinked, then laughed. "True. They've never had women warders that I know of." "They'll probably think she must be Birgitte reborn or something," Ranma said, laughing. "As if." ************** Balin and Dor sat in their room, reporting to Lord Kaneda with the farspeaker they carried. "Yeah, some people here are looking for some Mat guy." "Mat guy? Mat Cauthon?" "I dunno. One of them was an old gleeman and they had this kid with them and..." "An old gleeman with a thick moustache? Named Thom?" Kaneda asked eagerly. "Yeah. With an apprentice named Col. Maybe." Dor said. "Mistress Anan tried to lie about the gleeman's name, but the kid has a big mouth. He's named Olvar, I think." "Any sign of...hrm. You wouldn't know what they look like." Kaneda only barely knew what they looked like. He had briefly met Nynaeve and Elayne in Tanchico months ago. "Did the 'apprentice' carry a sword breaker and dress like an Illianer? And use the word 'do' too much?" "He barely spoke, but he looked more Cairhienin or Tairen," Dor said. "I saw such a man come into the inn a little while ago," Balin said. "What should he be called?" "Julius. I think. Something like that. Also, possibly a dark haired woman who tugs her braid all the time and a redhead about my age or a little older." "If we find them, what should we say? Or should we watch them?" "You need to find out if the women are there, and what Mat has gotten into. He was supposed to take them to Caemlyn." Kaneda fretted. "So what's the situation in Ebou Dar?" "Most of the Lords have sworn to the Seanchan and put their armies at their disposal. The Queen is being kept as a slave of High Lady Suroth. Her son, too. The Seanchan have rounded up a lot of the Wise Women and other women and made them into damane. There's a rumor that some group of Seanchan forces got blown to bits at some farm out in the countryside, some kind of Aes Sedai superweapon," Balin said. "There's thousands of Seanchan everywhere, and...there's rumors that someone called the 'Daughter of the Nine Moons' is coming. Some sort of high ranking Seanchan leader, I think." "Anything else?" "Not yet. The others are settled in at another inn. We'll see them in the morning and see what they've found out." "Righto." ************ Lara shook her head at Ryouga. "You blew up a third of a fortress." "I didn't mean to! I just...I was thinking about Akane and..." She sighed. "Do you want to get revenge on the one who stole her from you?" "Yes!" "Then you must learn to control yourself. Otherwise, the next time, you might bring down the roof on yourself and die. Or worse. Not to mention, if you don't learn to control this travelling talent of yours, you will certainly die because sooner or later, you'll wander into a live volcano or worse." She drummed her fingers on the table she was sitting at. "There has to be some way to control that. How often does it happen?" "I think about Akane a lot." "Your travelling!" "I travel a lot too." Lara fought back the urge to balefire him hard enough that the conversation would never have happened, but it wasn't easy. *********** Suroth frowned. Nothing was half as much fun as contradictory orders. Honest. Nearly a year ago, she had been instructed by a being who might have simply been one of the Chosen, or possibly even an avatar of the Great Lord Himself to slay the man who was now rotting in a dungeon under the Palace in Ebou Dar. However, only days ago, she had recieved instructions from one of the Chosen, who she believed to be Demandred, to make sure that the man was NOT killed. Rather, he was to be put to work as a general commanding her armies. To make matters worse, Tuon was coming. She had weeks at best, maybe only days, depending on how the winds blew, before Tuon arrived. Once the Empress' favored daughter arrived, she would take command, and Suroth would lose the position of power she had worked so hard to gain. And likely this heralded the arrival of the Correne in force. And possibly Suroth's own punishment for her failure to make more progress, although she had done far better than that fool Turak. How am I supposed to turn this fool to the Shadow, she thought. She could break him; that would be easy. But it would ruin him for anything useful. A grovelling slave would be a poor general. He had to serve, and serve willingly. Perhaps seduction. But who? She could not bring herself to seduce the obnoxious man, and who else could she trust to do the job? The ex-Queen, she thought. Perhaps I can simply threaten her in order to get him to cooperate. Yes. Everyone in the palace said they were lovers. But will he serve at full effectiveness...ahh, she thought. Every battle he loses, we remove one of her body parts. Start small and work our way up. "Alwhin." Alwhin, who was half asleep on the other end of the table that Suroth sat at, nearly jumped out of her flesh. Her damane, who HAD fallen asleep, jumped up and blinked, while Alwhin's da'covale, Liandrin, looked up from the letter she was copying for Alwhin. "Yes, High Lady?" "Voice. I command you to find the da'covale, Tylin. And this is what you must do with her." Suroth told her Voice just as much as she needed to know and no more. Soon, Alwhin departed with her servants. Suroth fingered the amulet she had taken from the man, Mat. Could this protect me from Demandred, she wondered. It stopped women channeling, she had learned that, but could it stop men? The spear and the ring surely had some significance, though he claimed they did not. Both bore imperial insignia; indeed, the ring bore Tuon's own seal. Could he be an agent of hers? He lacked the tattoos, and yet...It could not be coincidence. Demandred appeared from nowhere. She was used to that. "Suroth." "Yes, Chosen?" It was hard to choke back her disgust at a channeling male running free. Why the Great Lord had chosen people who should be leashed as his highest servants...but she was not fool enough to openly resist them. "What have you done to bring the boy to your cause?" "I will threaten his lover, Chosen. He will serve me to protect her." He nodded. "A good start. You will need to tie more threads to him. Still, we have more important matters to attend to. Tuon is coming." Suroth nodded. "Yes." "You will take her place." Suroth blinked. "I don't understand. How am I to convince the Empress to raise me to that level of the Blood?" "You misunderstand. Tuon will die, but none will know. All will believe Suroth is dead, but you will stand in Tuon's place." "But how could I possibly pass as Tuon? I'm the right height, but I have the wrong hair, the wrong eyes and..." Suddenly, the Empress of Seanchan stood before Suroth, who blinked, then Mat Cauthon, then Alwhin, then a grolm and then Demandred again, who handed her a small box with a bright red button. It was small enough to fit in a clenched fist. "Press this, and I will come. Use it when she arrives. I will make you close enough to Tuon that her own mother won't recognize her." He smiled. "Have the boy prepare an invasion of Tear." "Tear? We should secure Illian first." His jovial face vanished, turning hard as stone. "Al'Thor has moved a substantial portion of his armies into Illian. If you hold Tear, you will wipe out the main source of grain for Illian. He cannot possibly feed those armies without Tairen grain. Also importantly, the Sea Folk are concentrating ships there. If you wipe them out, he will have no navy left. Most importantly, you can seize it easily. Tear is a nation greatly vulnerable to naval assault; of course, Tear has a strong fleet, but with your damane, you can turn it to splinters." "As you command, Chosen, so shall it be done." ************** Under-Lieutentant Ches frowned. "Are you sure you recognized the woman, Child Shilar?" Under-Lieutenant Ches commanded three hundreds of the Children of the Light. He had been a Lieutenant once, but been demoted after the disaster in which he had been sent to deal with a False Dragon. Although the force he now commanded was just as large as the one he had commanded as a Lieutenant. The difference had been that this force was a bunch of freshly raised novices while his previous force had been allegedly six hundreds, but cut down by old casualties to a mere three hundred in number spread among six units. I am getting too old for this, Ches thought. His fifty years were starting to weigh on him. Black hair was starting to turn to grey. Child Shilar, a lad of only seventeen years but a strong swordsman already, an Altaran with bright green eyes and stark black hair, said, "I could not forget her. She is a witch, but a beautiful one. And where she goes, her False Dragon must be nearby." "She marches with an army flying a red eagle, a wolf head, and a golden hawk on a field of blue fringed in gold?" Commander Ches repeated, just to be sure. "Yes, Lieutenant Ches." Ches should have corrected him, but he had other things on his mind. He only recognized one of the banners. Mayene. What in the name of the Light was an army of MAYENE doing in Ghealdan? Flying the banner only flown if the First herself was present? And the Red Eagle. He vaguely remembered that from some gleeman's tale. The banner of some dead country. Almoth, maybe. The False Dragon had vanished from the Mountains a few weeks ago...perhaps he had somehow gone to...no, how could an army from Mayene get here so fast? "Is she the only Tar Valon witch with them?" "At least two more. They have the look. Possibly more. And they have Aiel with them." That would explain the rumors he had heard of Aiel in the area. These must serve the False Dragon, Al'Thor. We'll be caught between three hammers if we're not careful, he thought. The Seanchan. The Prophet. And the Dragonsworn/Aiel army. And if rumor is true...Pedron Niall is dead. We live in dark times, he thought. Perhaps the end of the Age is truly upon us. I will die bravely in the service of the Light if I must die, he thought. "We must have help. Summon my Bannermen and have someone find me a messenger." We'll see if Gorton and Marton can help me talk the Lieutenant into acting. ************ End Part Nine