Kaneda put the last touches on the schedule. I've
still gotta go talk to the Wise Ones about how much time
we can actually have with the Aes Sedai. 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 smiled a little. "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 that the reason the Aes Sedai of
the past didn't do this was that the Foxes weren't strong
enough to protect everyone and doing it on a large scale
would have broken the seals fairly quickly."
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. "Well, if we manage to figure out that
much...um, anyway." Getting excited, she started to talk
faster and faster. "Anyway, our weakest channelers and
those of us with special knowlege 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."
"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 nowhere 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
A Ranma/WOT crossover
Chapter 9: Steep Learning Curves
by
John Biles
************
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 dunno 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 couldn't, 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."
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 some 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.
***********
Gosunkugi sat at his desk and tried to do his
homework. It should have been easy. Of course not. He
just couldn't think due to the intense creepy crawly
feelings he had been having all day. It was slowly
driving him crazy.
He glanced over at Akemi, who was hard at work on
her homework; she didn't seem to be having this problem.
Akemi was his sort of girlfriend, sort of familiar. He
had conjured her up accidentally a while back; it had been
part of a plan to get Akane from Ranma, but he had gotten
her instead. She looked like a cross between Ranma and
Akane's female forms; she had long red hair like Ranma-
chan and Akane's face. She was a tulpa, a creature
formed from dreams, though once, long ago, she had been
mortal before being transformed in a way she no longer
remembered. She had nightmares, sometimes, and would
speak in languages she couldn't remember when waking,
and would babble of places he had never heard of and
people long dead or who never existed (as far as he could
tell).
Together, they could do magic. More importantly,
reliable magic; her magic was strong on her own, but
never worked right, his magic was weak and never
worked right. Together, their magic was strong and
worked right. Usually, anyway.
He turned back to his homework, trying to make the
numbers add up like they should. They just didn't want to
cooperate. Giving up, he turned back to Akemi, only to
see Kodachi standing over her. A few seconds, all he saw
was the room swimming about and darkness closing in.
************
<I am Linear Instructional Node Alpha #56. You may
call me LINA. I was constructed by Hari Modele in the
year 5,296 at Modele Industries. My purpose is to
dispense information and to teach certain skills. I am
qualified to provide instruction in Dreamwalking,
Dreaming, Dream Interpretation, Human Psychology, Mind
Restoration, Singing, Dancing, Counselling, and the care
of Fish. A pleasure to meet you,> the speaking box which
was LINA said to Bair.
"Hari Modele? Year 5,296?" Bair asked.
<Hari Modele constructed me. I have little further
information, as he is not one of my instuctional subjects.
I was constructed in the 5,296th Year of Peace. In the
5,365th Year of Peace, I had to be moved entirely into
T'A'R due to an attack by the Forces of Shadow on my
home city. I have dwelt here ever since.>
Bair frowned slightly. "You're thousands of years
old?"
<My Internal Clock indicates that is the case.> There
was a pause. <So who won the war?>
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 viel.
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,
Lady 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. Olvar 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 tatooed
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 protuding
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.
Not that I'll ever get to tell Rand that, he thought.
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 micro-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. Kick my butt. "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 who's
name means 'Evening's Lady' in the Old Tongue."
The Amyrlin frowned. "Another of my headaches.
Bleah."
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 much 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.
************
John Walter Biles : MA-History, Ph.D Wannabe at U. Kansas
ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu
rhea@tass.org http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html
rhea@maison-otaku.net http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/
"Blood and bloody ashes! Are you sure this is a seal on the Dark One's
prison? I've been using it as a coaster!"
--Steve Odhner, Path of Plots Entry #7