I can't remember if I posted this here before...Well, here it is again :)
"Cologne-sama, welcome to Ucchan's," Konatsu said, bowing. "How
may I be of service?"
"Are you aware of Ukyou's trip to another world?"
He boggled.
"Okay, let me explain."
************
Parallel Lives
A Ranma/WOT crossover
Chapter 12: The Promises that Count.
http://www.tass.org/~rhea/Stories/PL/index.html
by
John Biles
************
Dr. Tofu was rather surprised to get a package in the mail from
Kasumi. Normally, she would have just delivered it herself. But a
present is a present however it is presented. His brain began to fog over
before he even finished opening the box. Thus, when he saw the black
roses, his brain was too lost in space to wonder why Kasumi would send him
black roses, or why he was unable to move after he sniffed one. He was
about to take a nice, long, deep nap.
************
Janis Algar was one of the oldest men in the Black Tower, seventy
years old, but still well muscled, a huge barrel chested man with white
hair in the traditional Shienarian style. Where most Ash'aman looked like
someone had snuck up on them and tied a sword to their belt when they
weren't looking, he looked deadlier than most men half his age. He was
Dedicated, not a full Ash'aman yet, so he had not been in command of the
recruiting drive in Arad Doman which had just returned. But he was the
one that the nominal commander had chosen to speak; it was he who had
found out the crucial news. "They said we had already come and taken
three of their townsmen, M'hael," he said. "They were lead by an Domani
man with brown hair and green hypnotic eyes. He was dressed like one of
us, with the sword and the dragon pin. He had five other men with him.
It was just like one of our recruiting missions."
"Except that we didn't send anyone to Arad Doman yet," Taim said,
his face darkening.
"Someone's impersonating us."
Dreadlords, Taim thought. They're recruiting Dreadlords. Unless
they're working for that fool Kaneda...no, he wouldn't pose as one of my
men. I don't think he'd even think of such a thing. "This is the plan.
Follow it to the letter."
************
Ranma-chan looked at herself in the mirror, making minor
adjustments to her clothing. She was wearing her golden serpent ring on
her right hand with a silver bracelet of intertwined vines and leaves on
that wrist. A matching bracelet encircled her left wrist as well. Each
of her ears had a small gold bead tied to it with air; each bead had a
small hoop to hang very accessories. Today, there was a tiny ruby circled
by a tiny gold wire to look like a ringed planet hanging from each bead.
Her dress was green silk, with ruffled sleeves down to just below
the elbow, loose at the ends. The skirt ran down to mid-calf, slightly
pleated with two small pockets. A loose blue belt circled her waist with
several small pouches hanging from it; one of them was stuffed with gold
and silver coins. The blouse of the dress was cut low in back, loosely
laced shut with two long threads, while the front was cut in a wide, but
shallow square, buttoned down the front to the waist. She played with the
buttons, debating on whether to leave any open and show off her cleavage.
She idly rubbed an itch on one leg with a black slipper clad foot as
she debated with herself. There was only two people she really wanted to
stare, and she really should only let one of them do it. And one of them
wasn't around, anyway. On the other hand, if she ended up needing to
nudge any men along the path of what she wanted, it would help.
She unbuttoned the two top buttons and pulled it open, showing off
some of her cleavage, but hopefully not enough to send Nynaeve into a
rage. Although probably any cleavage at all was too much for her.
She stared at herself. She could hardly believe how comfortable
she had become dressing like this. Part of being Aes Sedai. After all
the time she had spent trying to get out of it, to go back to her world,
now she found herself increasingly liking being Aes Sedai. Maybe it was
akin to the way a junkie liked their habit. Maybe it was simply getting
respect. It could be something to do with the fact that most of her
friends in this world were Aes Sedai, and she liked having friends.
Sometimes she wondered if the world itself, the 'wheel' that
everyone talked about, had done something to her. Everyone from her world
who came here seemed to change. Especially Akane. I can't believe she
wouldn't let me go with her, Ranma-chan thought. I'm gonna laugh when I
have to go pull her fat out of the fire, she thought.
If she had to go help her. Akane seemed to have become better at
saving herself lately. And Ranma-chan had other duties now. To her
friends, to Elayne, who would be the first Aes Sedai queen in centuries,
and to her fiancee, her only fiancee, the woman she loved. It was
different from what she felt for Akane, stronger in some ways, weaker in
others. But it was getting stronger the more time she was with Ukyou.
While they didn't have too many fewer fights than Ranma-chan was
used to with Akane, they tended to have better reasons. And the making up
was better. A lot of the fights came from the fact that Ukyou was less
eager about being here than Ranma-chan.
If Ranma-chan could have learned to channel as a guy, she would
have been happy to stay in this world forever. She had to agree with
Akane; their lives had a purpose here, and it felt good to have a purpose.
She'd accomplished more to make a difference in the last month than in her
entire life before that, she felt. And she had always wanted to be a
heroine...hero.
Ukyou was rather less eager; she had dreamed rather different
dreams, although she seemed to be gradually accepting this. Ranma-chan
hoped that was the case; they were both in for the long haul on this.
Nynaeve stuck her head in through the tent flap. "Ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever get. Are all of Rand's boys ready to go?"
"They're Elayne's men now," Nynaeve said. She laughed a little.
"I feel like it's been eternity since the last time I came to Caemlyn."
She came all the way in and walked over to Ranma-chan, casually reaching
over and buttoning the dress the rest of the way up. "You missed two."
Ranma-chan resisted the urge to laugh. "So what is marriage
like?"
"Wonderful," she said. "Scary. A blessing with thorns. I keep
finding myself doing exactly what Lan wants me to, even when it's a bad
idea."
Ranma-chan found that only marginally more believable than one of
the Forsaken dropping in to sell them some Amway products. "How...how did
you know it was the right time?"
"I figured it out long before he did," she said. "Fool man always
prattling on about his battle, as if throwing his life away would do the
dead any good. Trying to protect me from having my heart broken when he
died by breaking my heart. The usual crazy man logic that makes NO
sense." She pulled out a brush. "Let your hair out, and I'll brush it."
"Thanks." Brushing her hair was always a pain, so she was
grateful. She let it down, then stared at herself in the mirror. "I
can't believe I'm dressed like this."
Nynaeve looked down at herself, then began to brush Ranma-chan's
hair. "Neither can I. Somewhere...it just kind of creeps up on you,
then suddenly you find yourself doing things you never imagined." Her
voice was subdued. "I never thought I'd marry a King, even if he doesn't
have a crown."
Ranma-chan looked at Nynaeve in the mirror. She was wearing a
blue dress. It was silk and somewhat clingy, modest, but tighter and
thinner than she remembered Nynaeve favoring. She had her shawl on, as
well as several pieces of jewelry, and makeup as well. What passed for
makeup in this world, anyway. "I bet you never thought Rand would be a
king either. Or Perrin a lord. Or Mat a general. Or Egwene the
Amyrlin."
"Rand still needs a good spanking, though. Hopefully, Elayne will
keep him in line better than Min did. Although how all of them are going
to resolve that...mess." She shook her head. "If this was Emond's field,
I'd have to give them all a good switching, and then the Women's Circle
and the Men's Council would likely join forces to chase them through the
streets with rotten fruit."
"Well, I resolved mine. I had over five people wanting to marry
me at one time," Ranma-chan said. "Now I'm down to one." One who can
find me, anyway.
"But you're afraid you're going too fast," Nynaeve said, gently
clearing a snarl in the hair.
"I'm not afraid! I'm just...I want to be sure I'm making the
right decision," Ranma-chan said. "He...he wants to have a quiet life,
and...well, Aes Sedai don't have quiet lives."
"Not in the Green Ajah, anyway. So what does he want you to do?"
"Go back to our own world and be normal teenagers. Get married,
run a shop...I can't do that anymore. Not with the commitments I've made,
not with people depending on me. And if we don't stop the Dark One, he'll
destroy our world anyway." Ranma-chan sighed. "I think I understand why
Akane wanted to stay a little better every day."
"Akane?"
"Kaneda. My other fiancee. His...umm...nickname." She still
hadn't been able to tell them about her curse, although she knew it would
come out soon anyway, unless they never talked to anyone in Cairhien ever
again. "I came back looking for him. Now he's run off like an idiot to
Ebou Dar. And he wouldn't take me with him."
"It's too dangerous going into Seanchan territory if you're Aes
Sedai unless you have to or can take an army with you. They won't bother
to test him to see if he channels. I just wish we hadn't had to leave Mat
behind." She frowned and tugged Ranma-chan's hair a little too hard. "Or
the boy, Oliver. Or Thom, or...or any of them." She sighed. "I feel
guilty."
"They'll be fine. So how far is it to Caemlyn?"
"We should arrive around noon."
Birgette stuck her head in the door. "Elayne sent me with a
message for you, Nynaeve."
"Hmm?"
"The scouts report there's a menagerie camped along the road
near the city."
"And?"
"Guess who runs it."
Nynaeve nearly pulled out all of Ranma-chan's hair in a
convulsive yank. "No."
"Yes."
"Blood and Ashes." Nynaeve's eyes flared with surprise.
"Sorry...I...that man..." She could feel her blood pressure rising. "If
he even says hello, I'll get Lan to cut him to bits."
"I've been telling Lan all about him."
"And?"
"He asked if Elayne would highwalk during her coronation."
Nynaeve's eyes widened. "You're lying."
Birgitte grinned. "Maybe just a tiny bit."
She dodged the brush with ease.
***********
Mrs. Ichinose clutched at her back again as she staggered down the
street with the village idiot (also known as Godai) helping her along. "I
didn't mean to fall off the roof on you!" he said for the twentieth time.
"Just get me to this chiropractor before I die," she said. "You
should have let me bring some sake to kill the pain."
"What sake? You drank it all before we got out the gate."
They reached the chiropractor they were looking for, only to find
they were out of luck. There was a neatly written note on the door.
'Gone to visit my mother. Be back in a week, Ono Tofu.'
"Alright, NOW we go buy some sake."
***********
Elayne's army swept south along the road, following the
Princess-heir. They were trained men who knew their business, and did it
with gusto. Especially because of one of the two banners flying over the
force. The banner at the top of the banner poles was the Red Lion of
Andor. Below it flew a banner which had been raised at Elayne's
insistence despite the protests of her general, but he had no better sigil
by which he might be known. The golden crane of Malkier flew once more.
A messenger rode up to the army from Caemlyn; he wore Dyelin's
livery. Soon, he was brought before Elayne. "The Lady Dyelin asks who it
is who marches on Caemlyn flying the Red Lion and the Golden Crane."
"It is Elayne of House Trakand, the Daughter-Heir, come to claim
the throne that is hers by right of blood," Elayne replied. "Tell Dyelin
that I have come with my allies, the uncrowned King and Queen of Malkier,
with a delegation of Aes Sedai, and with a delegation from the Sea Folk to
take up my birthright. I have heard of the fidelity with which Dyelin has
guarded the throne, and she will be well rewarded for the loyalty she has
shown."
"And what do you intend to do about the Dragon?"
"I intend to summon him to account for what he has done in my
kingdom as I would any steward after a long absence." Her voice was cool
and calm.
The messenger, on the other hand, paled. "You what?"
"He is, after all, an Andorman, and whatever other titles he may
hold, I am his queen."
The messenger began to sweat, despite the growing chill in the
air as the world returned to the proper weather for the middle of
Taisham...the dead of winter. "You...intend...to put the Dragon on
trial?"
"An accounting of his stewardship. A review. Not a court of
criminal law. I do hope proper records have been kept in my absence."
The man's forehead resembled a waterfall. "I'll...tell...Lady
Dyelin that." He knuckled his brow and bowed as best he could from
horseback, then turned and rode hastily towards the city.
"So how did I do?" Elayne asked.
"I thought he was going to die," Ukyou said.
"You're going to put Rand on trial?" Ranma-chan asked.
"It wasn't easy to talk him into it, but it will show I am Queen
by my own right, NOT because he gave me the throne or some such claptrap."
She frowned slightly. "He's so lonely, even with Min with him."
Aviendha touched her arm. "To be a leader is often lonely,
first sister. But I will do my best to make sure you need not be lonely
when you are Queen."
She smiled, and spurred her horse. "Let's go see how much panic
we've caused."
Ranma-chan laughed. "If you wanted panic, I think I could
arrange that."
"Not THAT much panic!"
*************
Rand frowned. Master Gill was gone from the Queen's Blessing,
and no one knew for sure when he would return. He had departed with
several other people who none of the staff knew the same day of his battle
with Rhavin, escorting some red haired woman.
For a moment, he wondered if the woman had been Morgase, then he
dismissed the thought. If she was alive, surely she would have proclaimed
herself somewhere. From what little he knew of her, Morgase would never
have stood for the control he had exerted over Andor in the past months.
He had hoped to spend a little while with the man relaxing,
although he supposed the twenty Maidens and four Ash'a'man with him
probably wouldn't have been very relaxing for Master Gill. He wouldn't
have brought so many Maidens, except that Aviendha had given him a
tonguelashing he would never forget after talking to some of them.
He had laughed for joy when she did, which had greatly confused
her, then angered her further. To have someone so completely forget who
he was delighted him. For a moment, he had felt like he was a child again
with his hand in the cookie jar; it had been even better than being
kissed.
Kissing Elayne had been like a dream; he had expected her to hate
him, almost wanted her to hate him so he could keep her safe, far away
from him. But now, she was close to him, always, for he could feel her
though the warder bond they now shared. She was smiling, happy, and
coming closer. Her army would reach the city in an hour, he estimated.
"Flinn, have you ever been married?" he asked. Flinn was old
enough to be Rand's grandfather, so he expected the answer would be yes.
"Depends on if he and Samitsu have taken the oath yet," Fedwin
Morr, a fairly young Ash'a'man said, grinning.
"She died a long time ago. There was an outbreak of plague." He
sighed. "I could have saved her if it happened now."
If she had stuck by you, Rand thought. Although from the
reports, most of the wives of his Ash'a'man had stuck by them. "Are any
of you married?"
"I do be married," Jur Adley said. He was from Illian. "Why do
you be asking?"
"How...have everyone's wives been...taking it?"
"Very few leave," Jur said. "They wouldn't have come with us
in the first place if they didn't intend to stay. And we have a wife bond
which is sort of like a warder bond, so we know they're okay, and they
know we're okay. My wife's fretting about something right now...but she
always frets."
Merana, who was also with them, said, "Thinking of getting
married, Lord Dragon?"
For a moment, he wondered if she read minds. "I don't know if I
will be given a choice."
"There's always a choice," one of the Maidens, Kari, a short
blonde, said. "Though if a Maiden loves you, there's only one right
choice." She grinned.
"It's just...well, let's get some food. Elayne likely won't need
us until after lunch," he decided. "Time to see if the cook here is as
good as I remember."
************
Konatsu sipped his cup of tea. "So Ukyou-sama is now in another
dimension?"
"Yes. I don't know how long she'll be there. If you wish to join
her, I suggest you find Kasumi and Nabiki at the airport."
He blinked. "They're taking a plane to another dimension?"
"They have a device for dimensional travel with them. You can use
it to go to the dimension Ukyou is in. Which will make it safer for them
as well; Kodachi will have no reason to attack them once they no longer
have it."
Konatsu nodded and rose. "I will prepare to leave at once. And
where are you going?"
"To make war upon Kodachi. You are the last person I needed to
talk to. Now I go to my destiny."
He nodded. "Good luck."
***********
Ranma-chan glanced over at Nynaeve, who was tugging her braid for
no discernable reason. "Something wrong?"
She pointed down the road to a large camp, a menagerie. "Him."
"That Valan Luca guy?"
"He's going to do something crazy." She sniffed, and probably
would have folded her arms under her breasts if she hadn't been holding
reins.
"Like what?" Ukyou asked, wobbling on his horse. He wasn't used
to riding, but Elayne had given both of them horses. Ranma-chan seemed to
have the knack of it, which he envied.
Elayne grinned. "Probably propose to her again."
"Very funny," Nynaeve said sourly. "He's probably going to
think Lan kidnapped me."
Lan had just a hint of a smile. "Should I be afraid for my
life?"
Birgette crowed with laughter, and Elayne giggled softly.
Nynaeve snorted loudly.
The closer they got, the tenser Nynaeve got. They got close
enough to make out individuals in the caravan, and some of the things it
had. Ukyou pointed at one of its wild animals. "Hey, look, Ranchan!
It's an elephant!"
Ranma-chan laughed. "Oh yeah, right, an elephant. Did it use a
D-hopper too?"
"What's an elephant?" Elayne asked.
"A S'redit," Birgette said, pointing.
Ranma-chan finally spotted it. "What's an Elephant doing here?"
"The Seanchan brought them," Birgette said.
There was activity in the camp, people moving to stare at the
column of troops, Aes Sedai, and nobles. Ranma-chan was still staring at
the Elephants when the sea of people parted and a stocky man dressed
clearly as the Ringmaster rushed out, holding a bouquet of flowers that
had seen better days. "I was right!" he proclaimed.
Nynaeve tugged her braid so hard she nearly fell off her horse.
"Valan Luca..." Her voice sounded like she had been gargling with acid.
"Don't. You. DARE!"
He smiled at her, pressing through the throng to her side.
Birgette actively got out of his way, laughing. Lan simply stared at him
impassively. Valan Luca reached her side and shoved the flowers into
Nynaeve's hands. "I knew you would come back to me, Nana! I have dreamed
of you all these nights!" She tried to spur her horse, but everyone was
in the way, and in fact, the horse stopped dead. "The Wheel has woven us
together!"
Ukyou clapped his hands together. "It is fate."
"Going to become Aiel now, Nynaeve?" Ranma-chan teased, not
noticing Aviendha giving her a glare. "Perfect chance to pick up another
one."
Valan Luca looked around and for the first time, suddenly
realized there were other people there. "Who are these people you're
riding with, Nana?"
"My name is NYNAEVE, I'm an Aes Sedai, and I'm MARRIED!" she said,
holding up her wedding ring and her Aes Sedai ring. "To him!" She
pointed at Lan, who waved casually at Valan.
"Now, this...this will be a challenge," he said. "But nothing
can stop true love."
"Do something, LAN!" Nynaeve shouted.
"Now, now, Nana, it's not like you to hide behind a man. If
you're angry with me, just let it all out directly," Valan said, waggling
a finger.
Nynaeve was starting to turn red in the face. Everyone was
laughing, except Lan, and he was smiling wider than anyone present had
ever seen him do in public. "If you wish to stop for an impromptu target
shooting session, I'm sure Birgette would be glad to oblidge," Lan said,
his voice dry, but his eyes twinkling.
"My own husband has betrayed me!" Nynaeve shouted. Birgette
laughed so hard she fell off her horse. Elayne was on the verge of
joining her. "Valan Luca, I have no time for you! We must reach Caemlyn
today and arrange for Elayne's coronation."
He blinked. "The daughter-heir? Why would you need to be there?
Or has she arranged for a show?"
Only the fact that people were watching kept her from leaping at
his throat. "Did you hear anything I have said?"
"You're married, you're going to the coronation, you're..." He
noticed the ring. "You're Aes Sedai?"
"YES!"
"I never thought I'd marry an Aes Sedai. But no matter, I can
accept that."
Everyone has a point beyond which they should not be pushed.
Nynaeve had just fallen across that point. She had enough self-control
not to channel. Strangling Valan Luca...that was different. Giving a
strangled cry, she leaped at Valan Luca, only to have Ukyou's mega-spatula
suddenly interpose itself. She clanged into it head first, then fell to
the ground. "Sorry, Lan," Ukyou said.
He sighed, dismounted, and picked her up off the ground, dusting
her off. "I hope you never tried that with Siuan Sanche."
Nynaeave was too stunned to answer. Valan Luca's eyes were wide.
"She...She's...Is something wrong with her? I'm used to her getting mad
at me, but she never tried to strangle me before." He looked at the
spatula. "And what is that?"
Elayne said, "Master Luca, I think you and Lan, her husband,
should have a little talk."
"Morelin?" he said, finally noticing her. "What is going on?"
"My name is Elayne Trakand, and I am the Daughter-Heir of Andor.
As soon as I can be crowned, I will be Queen. These are my friends and
this is my army. And much as I know you are devoted to Nynaeve, you have
missed your chance." Her voice was a little sad. "Lan, if you will?"
Lan nodded, and put Nynaeve back on her horse, then took his
horse's reins with one hand, and Master Luca's shoulder with the other,
and went off to talk to him.
Ukyou watched them go. "Poor man."
Ranma-chan shook her head. "What an idiot."
Elayne sighed. "He's a good man. He just has a bit of a...blind
spot."
"He's an idiot," Nynaeve said, finally recovering from being
stunned. She turned to Ukyou. "You could have just grabbed me! Now I've
got a headache!"
"I don't have arms eight feet long, and you COULD have just told
him to go away!" Ukyou said.
"I tried! It didn't work!"
"Strangling people is NOT a good debate method!"
Nynaeve snorted, and turned away.
**********
"You're a damn difficult man to find, even WITH a farspeaker,"
Taim said to Rand, fuming.
He blinked. "You called?"
"YES! There's someone running around imitating my men! I
thought you MIGHT want to know."
"Don't take that tone with me!" Rand thundered back, standing
up from the table he was seated at, while the serving folk quietly got as
far away as possible. The maidens hung on the verge of veiling
themselves, and the four Ash'a'man looked distinctly uncomfortable. "I am
the..."
"I don't care if you're the High King of the Rutabagas! If you
don't answer calls, those talking boxes are useless! I had to nearly
strangle several people in Cairhien to find where you were. What the hell
are you doing hiding at some inn?"
"It is NONE of your business," Rand said flatly. "I have plans
to which you are not privy. So you say someone is impersonating the
Ash'a'man? Who and where?"
"Recruiting in Arad Doman. And probably elsewhere as well."
"Dreadlords," Rand said flatly. "This must be stopped. Can they
do gateways?"
"We don't know."
"Investigate. If they do, they can be traced. Gateways leave
residues. Use as much force as you see fit. We can't afford letting the
Forsaken recruit their own Tower. Also, you should start making
arrangements to move the Black Tower. Our training center shouldn't be on
the fronteir. There's enough room in eastern Cairhien to hide a dozen
Black Towers. How quickly can you manage this?"
"In a week at most."
"Do it. Also, I want you to start sending those who have
completed their basic training to Kaneda's school for a week. I want them
to learn to link with women."
Taim frowned. "We cannot trust Aes Sedai. They have hunted us
for three thousand years."
"I trust few not sworn to me. But it is a useful skill. And
there is much else to be learned there. Once enough of them learn it,
they can bring back many secrets to be spread throughout the entire Black
Tower. There will be no secret tricks of the Power among us. Unless
something is forbidden to all, it will be made known to all. Any other
business?" He sounded as if he hoped the answer was 'no'.
"The Golden Crane of Malkier flies over the army marching through
the city, along with the Red Lion of Andor. What is this?"
"al'Lan Mandragoran leads Elayne's army, at least for now. Have
any of your scouts heard anything of her brother?"
"A vague report that he is skulking about the vicinity of Tar
Valon. I know nothing more since you have forbidden any approach to that
area."
"Find him. I will need Lan to rally the Borderlands to me if
there is any problems. Avoid any direct confrontation with Tar Valon, but
find him."
"The leaders of the Borderlands are headed south. No one knows
exactly where they're going, but they have a large army with them. All
four of the Kings and Queens have joined for this."
Rand frowned. "Which means they've likely decided to move
against me, possibly in support of Elaida, or they wouldn't bother hauling
an army south with no one to fight. Have the men looking for Gawyn keep
an eye out for them. Any word from...Hmm. Anything else?"
Taim cocked his head, frowned slightly, and said. "No. I will
see to these matters." He didn't look very pleased as he vanished.
"That one strains at his leash," one of the maidens observed.
"He's a dangerous man," Merana said.
"Only to his enemies," Fedwin said. "He treated us as well as
any army commander ever does."
Flickering handtalk combined with dubious faces showed the maidens
were neither convinced nor willing to argue.
***********
Perrin's force was camped outside Bethel. Much to Alyssa's
surprise, it had been joined by Queen Alliandre, who had not just come to
them when they expected to go to her, but had sworn fealty to Perrin. Now
I know what seeing ta'veren in action looks like, she thought, as she
stood at the edge of the camp staring off towards Bethel. Manetheren is
being reborn, pulling itself together around him like a mounting
whirlwind.
At the same time, Ghealdan was being pulled apart, with Aiel,
Whitecloaks, Ghealdanners, the Prophet's lunatics, and now Perrin's force
dashing about the countryside. She felt sad for her beautiful homeland,
being burnt and plundered inch by inch, often by its own people. How can
we have gone so crazy? Ghealdanners had been a tough minded people,
skeptical of everything, and perhaps a little too distrustful of
outsiders. Now everywhere outside her home village seemed to be a land of
lunatics or cowards hiding from them.
The Dragon will break the nations, it is written, she thought.
And he seems to have started with Ghealdan. She gave a great sigh. I
hope Mom and Dad will be okay.
She reached out through her bond to Kaneda, just to reassure
herself he was okay. The link was weaker with distance, but she could
feel him off in the distance. He felt a little tired, but was healthy. I
wonder if he's thinking of me, she thought.
***********
Akane sneezed. I hope I'm not getting a cold, she thought. She
was pitching in as a barmaid for Setalle Anan, after two of the barmaids
had been carried off by some Seanchan who liked their looks. They'd all
fumed, but they couldn't risk a confrontation until their opportunity to
bust out Mat arrived.
She shivered slightly when a patron gave her a wink and dropped a
silver coin into her bosom, in part because the coin was cold and in part
because of his choice of targets. She was wearing a pale blue wool dress,
cut high around the neck, but with a long narrow slit down the middle of
her chest to just above her belly button. It would have been tight around
her bosom, but it was comfortable for her, since she had less chest than
the average Ebou Dari tavern maid, although she had the attitude down
right. The skirt was a bit odd, gathered above her left knee to show off
the red and yellow petticoats under it; Akane wasn't quite used to moving
in it.
Once she finished shivering, she gave the man her best glare, and
to her satisfaction, he visibly wilted. The men around Ebou Dar gave
women a lot of respect, and to her surprise, they even did so for
barmaids. They also tipped well; she'd earned enough to live fairly well
for several days in half a day.
She swept past Setalle Anan and into the kitchen for another
round of drinks for a group of men at one table. Setalle gave her an odd
look; Akane wasn't surprised. It took a while to adjust to her curse.
After she finished serving the group of men, Thom, who had
entered in the interval, beckoned her over to the table he shared with
Vanin. The two men had become quite friendly since she had introduced
them to each other.
"And what would you two scamps like to drink?" Akane asked
loudly.
"Two mugs of ale, Mistress Akane," Vanin said.
"There's rumors Suroth has gone mad," Thom said. "And rumors
of some sort of secret raid she's organized. She's started talking in the
third person, and keeps calling people by strange nicknames. And a large
fleet is gathering here, calling in all their ships. It could just be for
the daughter of the Empress' reception, but.." His voice was very quiet,
and his lips barely moved. Then he said loudly, "And two meat pies."
Akane nodded. "Two meat pies, two ales." More quietly, she
quickly asked, "Any idea why she's crazy?"
Thom shook his head, and Akane went to fill their orders. I wish
the Empress' daughter would hurry up...The longer we hang around Ebou Dar,
the longer the odds that something will go wrong, or someone will spot us,
she thought. Although being able to go around in my girl body for long
periods of time is nice.
I wonder if Ranma has told her friends about her curse yet. She
shook her head. Ranma would keep up the masquerade as long as he could.
For a moment, she intensely missed Ranma, and wished he was there. I bet
even he'd have to admit I look cute in this, she thought. All the stares
she kept getting indicated that Ebou Dari men favored her anyway.
But I had to send her away for her own good, she thought. It's
too dangerous for her...for him here. Or for Alyssa. She missed them,
and thoughts of them filled her head as she took Thom and Vanin the food
and drink they ordered, then went around, serving people on autopilot.
Alyssa was a little melancholy off in Ghealdan; Akane could feel
it. While she couldn't channel as a woman, the warder link still
functioned. In fact, it felt more intense when she was female.
I wonder what Ranma is doing. Probably skulking around Ebou Dar
trying to find me because he thinks I can't take care of myself. She
frowned. I wish I could have brought him. For a moment, she wished he
would walk in the door, tell her how uncute she looked in that dress, then
let her punt him into orbit. She laughed at the thought. THAT would draw
interesting attention from the Seanchan; they'd probably assume she must
be a channeler.
Another fantasy surfaced, an old one not replayed in quite a while,
one of him professing to her that he loved her, sweeping her into his
arms, and kissing her passionately. Her eyes flared, and she tried to
stomp out the thought. It didn't work; she could feel her body starting
to arouse, which she extremely didn't want to happen while she was
surrounded by mildly rowdy, fairly intoxicated men.
Making the fantasy worse was that she knew it wouldn't happen.
Maybe in the past it could have happened one day, and part of her still
wanted it to happen, but not now it couldn't. She'd made a commitment to
someone else, and...Ranma couldn't accept her as she was. Ranma could
only love Akane, not Kaneda, and anyone who loved her needed to be able to
love both.
Although she still wasn't really sure what Alyssa thought of
Akane, or whether she would be changed by her curse as Akane had been by
hers. Ukyou hadn't seemed to be attracted to women in her boy body.
Which was a pity, as it was a rather attractive boy body. Akane blushed
slightly, remembering the dream she'd had a few nights ago. This simply
made her current matters worse.
Akane rarely had attacks of horniness, especially not spontaneous
horniness. If there had even been some guy she was finding attractive
around, she could have understood it, but it just seemed to be a brain
spasm.
When someone asked her for some beer for the fifth time, she
suddenly snapped out of it. "Sorry about that," she said, and ran off.
On the way back out of the kitchen, Setalle Anan stopped her.
"Is something wrong?"
"Missing someone," she said quietly, fingering the choker she was
wearing; it was a sign of being engaged, Setalle had told her. It would
keep people from propositioning her, among other things.
Setalle nodded. "You'll get to go see them soon enough, I'm
sure. I know I miss my husband sometimes when he vanishes for several
days on a trip. How soon do you expect to get married?"
"I don't know." Akane sighed. "I don't think my father will
approve."
"Sometimes we have to defy our parents, but it's never easy. And
better that it not be," Setalle said. "I'm sure they're thinking of you."
"I hope so."
************
"How soon can we hold the coronation?" Elayne asked.
Dyelin stared at the massive wedge of channelers behind Elayne.
If she was afraid, she showed no sign. Her gaze did linger on Lan, though
her expression gave no clue of why. "Today, in theory. Really, we should
take longer so that all of the nobility will be able to attend if they
want. At least a three week wait. Five would be better."
"We can do in one week with my resources. Many of my people can
open gates to cut the travel time to minutes," Elayne said. "The Lion
Throne has sat empty for too long." She sighed. "And someone do
something with that ludicrous chair." She pointed to the one that Rand
had been using. "Put it back where it came from," she said to no one in
particular. Several nervous servants went over and began to haul it away.
"Do you truly intend to..."
"Andor is mine by birth, and all Andormen owe allegiance to me.
And are accountable for deeds done in service to its throne. Every
steward is called to account when his term is done."
Dyelin smiled faintly. "Good. The Lord Dragon is not a bad man,
but...I have never seen a ruler so arrogant in all my life. It will do
him good to be taken down a few notches. Although I doubt he'll submit
himself to such an audit."
"My advisor, Nynaeve, grew up in the same village as him. She
has spanked him a few times. She's not afraid of him and neither am I."
Dyelin blinked, then shook her head. "Anyone who is not a fool
should fear him at least a little. The Dragon will save us...but it will
not be a pleasant experience."
**********
Rand looked at the palace wall and laughed to himself. "The first
time I ever entered this place was by climbing up here."
Fedwinn paled. "We're going to climb THAT?"
The wall was a crumbling mass of bricks, not a ninety degree rise,
but close enough, overlaying the slope of the hill which rose towards the
palace. There was a garden on the other side of the wall, Rand knew, a
quiet out of the way spot.
Kari laughed. "That's easy, wetlander. A five year old in the
waste could climb worse than that. I do wonder why we're breaking into
the palace, though." She put her hands on her hips and gave Rand the
'what is my crazy older brother up to' look. The maidens all treated him
as either a sibling or a child; she at least gave him the courtesy of
viewing him as an elder brother.
"So no one will know that I'm here," he said. "And..." He
smiled faintly. "This brings back good memories." The day he had done
this suddenly sprang back into his mind as if he was living it again. "I
met her at the top of this wall, the day they brought Logain through the
city on his way to the Tower to be stilled."
The others listened politely; several of the Maidens and all of
the Ash'a'man seemed interested, while the other Maidens kept watch or
handtalked, possibly speculating on who would reach the top first.
"I didn't even realize I was getting into the palace. I just
wanted a good view." He could see the crowds in his mind's eye, a huge
mass of people struggling for the best viewpoints; Caemlyn was so quiet
today, he could hardly believe it the same city.
"And when I got to the top and perched up in the tree," he pointed
to the tree which overhung the wall, "Then I got to see Logain. But then
I fell down and hurt myself and Elayne found me." The harshness that
often ruled his voice had faded. For a moment, the Dragon Reborn was
gone, and only Rand al'Thor remained.
"She wasn't Aes Sedai yet, but she did her best to put me back
together, and she and her brother made sure I got out of the Palace
without getting in trouble. Gawyn that is. Galad assumed I was a
threat." He laughed. "I was sure the Queen was going to lock me up
forever or worse."
Looking up the wall, he said, "I'll give ten gold crowns to the
first person to reach the top." He grinned at the maidens. "I bet that's
what you were discussing...who'd get there first."
Three maidens blushed, and several of the others looked startled.
One of them said, "Make it fifteen."
Rand laughed. "Alright. Fifteen. Everyone find a good spot,
and I'll count down to the start."
The Ash'a'man all shifted uncomfortably, looking at each other as
machismo battled with common sense. Then one of the maidens said, "You
four can use the front door if this is too much for you."
That did it; they joined the others at various spots along the
wall. Rand could feel all four grasp the Source, but he didn't; he had
done this when he couldn't channel his way out of a tangle of cobwebs, and
he was sure he could do it now.
Kari and another ruby haired Maiden took the lead, scrambling
faster than Rand thought humanly possible, while Jur Adley took the rear,
indeed, the far rear. In fact, Rand wasn't sure if Jur would make it up
the wall before the sun set; it was close to the horizon already. He
leaned over to Narishma, who was a head in the lead of Rand, but quite
close to him. "What's taking him so long?"
"He's deathly afraid of heights," Narishma said. "But he never
tells anyone until he panicks. He got punished back at the Black Tower
once by having to fix the roof. He was okay for a while, but then he
looked down and...well, luckily Janis was around to catch him."
"You should have said something!"
"No one likes being humiliated," Narishma said. "And he'll
never conquer his fear by not facing it."
Rand nodded. Narishma was right, but...he was going to feel
horrible if Jur fell, even if he wasn't hurt.
Kari reached the top first, scrambling up to sit on top of the
wall, then began to talk to someone the others couldn't see. Rand got
there fairly quickly, and the wall top began to fill up. Birgitte (Rand
wondered if she lived up to the original) was there, grinning as she sat
in the tree, wearing a white shirt, yellow jacket and black trousers.
"The palace is beginning to fill up with nobles. The Aes Sedai have been
Travelling like mad. And I believe the Sea Folk have gone running off in
a carriage with the poor fool who got stuck going with them due
to...anyway. My job is to sneak you to Elayne, although she didn't say
you'd have an army with you."
Rand looked down at Jur, who was now halfway up the wall and
sighed. "Someone go help him; we can't wait all day," he said, then
turned back to Birgitte. He couldn't quite bring himself to say that
Aviendha had browbeaten him into swearing he'd never leave the Maidens
behind again, except for things like using a privy. Especially as he
wasn't quite sure how she had gotten him to swear that. "The maidens
carry my honor. They go where I go, unless it is vital that they do not."
Several of the maidens nodded approvingly. Two of them had headed
down to help Jur. One of the remaining ones said, "We will remain unseen.
You need only worry about the four men."
Birgitte nodded. "Let's go."
**********
Ranma sank into the hot water, grateful for the chance to be a
man for a little while. He had warded the doors, AND sealed them shut
with the power; no one would interrupt him and Ukyou. A little tied off
flow of fire was keeping both of their baths warm; they each had their own
fair sized copper bath pot, not quite so large as he really wanted, but
wonderfully soothing; his behind hurt from all the horseback riding. He
had become decent at it, but it still didn't feel good at the end of the
day.
Nearby, Ukyou luxuriated in the hot water. "I'm never riding a
horse again if I can help it."
"It beats trying to keep up on foot," Ranma said, happily lying
and soaking in the warmth. "Oh MAN, this feels good!"
"I wanna know what Lan said to that Luca guy...he looked HAPPY to
be sent away," Ukyou said.
"I wanna see Elayne do highwalking at her coronation."
Ukyou laughed. "Me too. I'll see if Lan and Birgitte can come
up with a way to talk her into it."
"I saw you three ran off to talk while we Aes Sedai were
discussing stuff and making the arrangements for the Sea Folk to get
home."
Ukyou laughed. "She's great. I wish Birgitte had gone to our
high school. We spent most of the time trying to get Lan to laugh...no
one should be so sombre. And discussing how crazy Aes Sedai are."
"We're not crazy!" Ranma shouted.
"Hmm. I just realized a problem."
"What?"
"We don't have any towels, you enchanted the water so it won't
get cold, AND you sealed us in."
"..."
"Well, we won't freeze to death, but we might WRINKLE to
death."
"..."
************
Min stood in the ter'angreal storage room, trying to make up her
mind while she chatted with Mai and Corwin Corey, who were on guard duty.
She was trying to decide if she wanted to try bargaining with the Foxes.
There were two somewhat good reasons, and one bad reason she was
contemplating doing it. The first good reason was that she was hoping
that just maybe they could bring Herid Fel back to life, although she
suspected the price for that would likely be more than she could pay. The
second reason was that she was sure they could make her special power more
reliable and make it so she always understood what she saw and knew more
about her visions. The bad reason was the petty one.
She was worried about losing Rand. Having him all to herself had
been nice...very nice. And now he was off with Elayne. Maybe Elayne and
Aviendha could all accept sharing him, but...she was sure she wasn't being
greedy. At the same time, they were her friends and she didn't want to
let a man come between them. But how could three women fairly share one
man? It was impossible.
The tempation was quite clear...to get the Foxes to change their
minds and his. She knew she shouldn't do it. And she wasn't really going
to do it...that sort of compulsion was evil. But it was tempting and grew
more so. Best not to hang around the door, but at the same time, she
couldn't quite make herself leave, especially when there were GOOD things
she could do with it.
"So what would you wish for?" she asked Mai.
"A bag that never ran out of food. The ability to fly without
wings. I think being able to fly would be really fun, and even with the
knowledge Kaneda got for us, I still can't fly unless I cheat with
machines. And...a prince on a white charger to marry me." Mai grinned.
"How about you, Corwin?"
"More strength in the Power...the magic bag of infinite food
sounds good...and...hmm." He stroked his beard, thinking hard. "A winged
horse that bred true and could fly. I could breed him and make a ton of
money."
Simple dreams, Min thought. Then again, a few years ago, I'd
have made wishes like that, she thought. "Do you think..." She stared at
the door; she could almost hear it singing to her. "Do you think they
could bring back someone from death?"
"I think you'd probably have to die yourself to pay for it. Or
someone else die," Corwin said. "And it would only work if the Creator
hadn't already woven them back into the Pattern in a new life."
Surely not this quickly, Min thought.
"Thinking about Herid Fel?" Mai asked.
Min started. "Yes."
"I heard about what happened to him...it sounded awful," Mai
looked over at the items at the table. The number of ter'angreal had
grown in the past weeks, but the first ter'angreal of the hoard remained,
some more useful than others. "You could take a few of the ter'angreal we
can easily replace, like that silly watering can and use them as payment."
"Do you think it would be enough?"
"You could ask," Mai said. "It's not like we can't make more.
Actually...oooh, I know what you should ask for."
"Hmm?"
"Since you can't channel, you should ask for something that
protects you from channeling!"
Corwin nodded. "Good idea. The Forsaken will likely try to
kill you eventually...I bet THAT would shock them when you just laughed at
a lightning bolt."
Min laughed. "Then stuck a knife in him." Definitely goes on
the list, she thought.
"And you could..." Corwin began, then stiffened. "What in..."
He was pointing at the door; something was oozing under it, a mass of
vaguely flesh colored (Caucasian flesh colored) jelly, moving rather fast.
The wards, which should have fried it to a crisp weren't doing anything.
In fact, he could see them unravelling as they touched the jelly. "Mai,
get Min out of here and get help! I dunno what this is, but..." He
grasped the source through the small angreal he held; they each had one
now, but they weren't very strong. It took a lot of channelers, and the
leader needed to have the right Talent to make very strong angreal or
sa'angreal, and they didn't have anyone with the Talent. He wove a
doorway, which he could just barely manage, and couldn't have done without
the ter'angreal, and Mai nodded.
Just as Mai and Min stepped towards it, the jelly sped up and
erupted at the gateway. When it struck the edge, the gateway unravelled.
The creature formed up into the shape of a woman, medium in height with
short brown hair and freckles; if she hadn't just oozed under a door, she
would have blended right in. "You're not going anywhere," it said, then
grinned. It began to stalk quite deliberately towards him.
He unloaded fire upon it; the fire dissolved away harmlessly.
Then Mai did the same thing with the silly looking heart wand angreal from
the table. It flew across the room, now charred on one side, though the
burnt flesh began to regenerate. "What...you..." Its eyes narrowed.
"Why must I serve idiots," it muttered, then charged at Corwin again.
It was caught in mid-charge, bound with air. Mai grinned.
"Maybe because you're an idiot yourself," she said.
Suddenly, it became a pool and zoomed along the floor towards the
twisted doorway, having simply dropped out of the bonds of air. It took
Mai a few precious seconds to decide what to do. In those seconds,
another one began to ooze under the doorway. Mai wove fire in front of
the doorway, driving the first one back. When she hurled more at the
second one, though, her weaves unraveled. The first one had assumed a
human form once more. "Hurry up you damn slow idiot!" she shouted at the
second one, which gradually formed up into a man.
Corwin then flung fire at that one and was gratified when it
fell back screaming against the door, though it soon began to heal. We
won't last long once each of them targets one of us. He sprinted over to
Mai and Min. "Only one way out! GRAB EVERYTHING!"
He and Mai put up a wall of fire to block off the two creatures
for the few seconds they would need while Min grabbed as much stuff off
the table as she could. Then as the two creatures each shattered the
weavings, the three of them leaped through the twisted doorway.
The two creatures were after them in an instant. An instant
wasn't enough. The twisted doorway shimmered and vanished. The woman
howled. "Ishiri's EYES! This is all your fault! What in blue blazes
took you so long?"
"I needed a snack."
"First you get your ass kicked by a some punk kid with a spear
who can't even CHANNEL, then you botch this job because you wanted an
early DINNER! Why Aginor bothered making you three male idiots..." She
fumed. "YOU get to tell Demandred about this."
"Me? Hah! You..." Suddenly his flesh began to burn, blue
flames flecked with black. "Irideshi's LIVER!" he howled. "IT HURTS STOP
IT HELP ME!" His flesh was burning away to powder, and the woman backed
away from him, staring in horror. She'd always believed her kind
virtually unkillable; only one gender of Aes Sedai could even affect them,
and they would heal almost any damage back in time. The male one had
fallen to his knees, howling. "NO HELP PLEASE..." His flesh was burning
and melting and turning to dust, and soon he could no longer speak. A few
seconds later, there was nothing left of him.
The woman ran, terrified for the first time in her entire
millenia long existence. (Although most of it had been spent in a stasis
box, so it was only a few years of experience despite her experience)
***********
Rand was getting up to depart; he was going to simply Travel out of
the palace back to Cairhien. Several things happened at once. The Call
Box, which he had forgotten to turn on before was now beeping at him.
Secondly, Min suddenly fell out of the air and landed on Aviendha,
knocking her flat and out for the count.
The Maidens, who had been lurking outside dashed in, along with
the Ash'aman, while Elayne, Nynaeve, and Lan jumped to their feet. "Min!"
Elayne said.
Rand tossed the box to Kari. "Take the call." He ran over to
Min, kneeling by her and Aviendha. "Are either of you hurt?"
"I'm fine," Min said weakly, taking his hand and letting him help
her up. "I think Aviendha took my fall."
Nynaeve came over and quickly revived Aviendha as Rand knelt
anxiously by her. "How did you get here, Min?"
"These two...I don't know what they were, but they oozed under
the doors and attacked me and Mai and Corwin, so we had to jump through
the twisted doorway and..."
"Cairhien is under attack!" Kari announced after listening to
the Call Box. "Some sort of Shadowspawn has killed two Ash'a'man, perhaps
a dozen Aiel, several servants and Jo of the Hall of the Servants." She
paused. "And Corwin of the Hall is now missing his left eye and his left
arm."
Rand formed a doorway. "Tell them I'm coming. Ash'aman, follow
me!" He turned to Elayne. "Take care of Min. I'll come back tomorrow or
call you or something..."
Maidens and Ash'a'man poured through the doorway, with him last
for once, and then it closed.
Nynaeve shook her head. "The man doesn't even bother to say
goodbye."
"He has duties," Elayne said quietly. "What happened, Min?"
She reached inside her shirt, checking something and pulled out a
foxhead amulet which made Elayne's eyes bulge. Then she said, "Two
creatures...Gholams, tried to steal the twisted doorway. We had to flee
through it, and I ended up trading some ter'angreal for this," she pointed
to the amulet, "for revenge on the thing that killed Herid Fel, and
passage to somewhere safe for me and my friends. I had...I hoped that I
could get them to...to bring Herid Fel back to life, but they couldn't.
Not for a price that I..." She shuddered. "That I could afford to pay.
But he's been avenged. But..." she looked around. "I don't see Corwin
or Mai anywhere."
"Well, they sent you to Rand, so maybe they each ended up with
someone who could protect them," Elayne speculated. "The three of us
need to have a private talk, anyway."
Nynaeve took this as a cue to leave. "If you need me and Lan..."
Birgitte nodded. "I'm out of here. Call me when you're done if
you need me for anything."
Min almost wished another Gholam would come oozing under the
door.
************
Ukyou and Ranma didn't wrinkle to death, although dripping dry
was extremely NOT fun. Having Mai show up while they were both naked
wasn't too much fun either. However, she was able to remove the wards on
the door for them so they wouldn't have to stay there all night. After
checking in (after the application of some cold water to themselves), and
discovering the crisis in Cairhien was over, the Gholam having simply
vanished, they finally headed back to bed. Having assurance they wouldn't
be trapped in the morning, they slept together in their natural bodies in
both the figurative and literal sense.
Ukyou spent a little while in T'A'R, going off to LINA for a
lesson, and then went off to go find Akane and Alyssa, since she had
promised them lessons. They met at Cairhien, since they all knew it.
Akane and Alyssa had gotten there first. "So this guy asked if I wanted
to see his 'marriage knife', so I beat him into the ground with the chair
and broke it, then Setalle Anan lectured me for not using something that
wouldn't break so easily." Akane shook her head, fingering the choker she
was now wearing; she'd been wearing a T-shirt and jeans when Ukyou
arrived, but now it had flickered into a pale blue dress with a long slit
down the frong. "This thing was supposed to tell people I was off...hey,
how'd I get into this?"
"You have to focus your minds or your clothing keeps changing,"
Ukyou said, changing her clothing into her old purple wrap around and
tights to demonstrate. "So how are things with you two?"
"The Queen of Ghealdan swore fealty to Perrin," Alyssa said.
Akane boggled. "She WHAT?"
"The Queen of what?" Ukyou asked.
"My homeland. I guess this makes Perrin an Emperor, since he has
a Queen who owes him fealty."
"Dang. We're still stymied, waiting for that Seanchan woman to
show up so we can rescue Mat in the confusion. I wish you all were here;
I'm bored out of my skull," Akane said. "Oh, and Suroth seems to have
gone mad."
"Who?"
"The leader of the Seanchan army. She's started talking in the
third person and calling people weird nicknames and rumor claims she
smashed through a wall instead of using the door."
"What, like Shampoo?"
Akane and Ukyou stared at each other for a moment, then they
said in unison, "No way." Their clothing flickered, and for a moment,
Akane was in her old school uniform, and so was Ukyou (though it was a
boy's uniform).
"Shampoo?" Alyssa asked.
"This crazy Amazon who thought Ranma had to marry her due to
Aiel Law." Akane shook her head. "She never could figure out Ranma
didn't love her."
"Because he...loved..." Alyssa couldn't quite say it.
"That's over now," Akane said, then her eyes flared. For just
a moment, she was dressed in a eighteenth century gown, and then the
barmaid dress returned, followed by a simple white button shirt and black
trousers. "Blast it!"
"Stray thoughts can be pretty embarrassing." Ukyou thought
about the dream of Akane's that she had seen, and she had to fight to keep
her own clothing from vanishing or becoming something...
inappropriate.
"Where's Ranko?" Alyssa asked.
"Worn out, asleep." Ukyou grinned a little. It had been quite
pleasant. "I ran him ragged."
"Doing...oh." Alyssa blushed and glanced over at Akane.
"You can change back and forth here at will," Ukyou said to
Akane. "Just think about triggering the change."
Akane tried it, and fell down with shock when it worked.
"Wow."
"Just in case you two ever...feel the need for a little
closeness," Ukyou said, grinning. "Should I go off and let you two get
that out of your system now?"
They both blushed. "We can wait," Alyssa said faintly.
Tel'aran'rhiod would probably be full of horny teenagers if most
people could get into it, Ukyou thought. A good reason for it not to be,
I suppose.
************
Alyssa went to Perrin's tent, where two of Faile's gang of noble
friends who liked to style themselves a warrior society were standing
guard. They parted for her, letting her in, bowing their heads slightly.
She stuck her head in. "Can I come in?"
Faile, the Queen of Ghealdan, and Perrin were breakfasting
together while Maighdin and Lini served them. Faile smiled. "Certainly.
Didn't someone come tell you that breakfast was served?"
"No."
Faile blinked and stared at Maighdin, who suddenly became
intensely interested in refilling Perrin's tea. She sighed. "Well,
you're certainly welcome. Did you sleep well?"
She came over and sat down; Lini brought her some toast and
soup. "Elayne's reached Caemlyn; she'll be crowned in a week. Interested
in attending?"
Allisandre (the Queen of Ghealdan) blinked. "Attending? We
couldn't possibly reach Caemlyn in a week if we grew wings and flew."
Perrin would have said something except that Maighdin started
and poured the entire pot of tea on his head. Perrin howled and flailed
about, knocking Maighdin down and nearly clubbing Faile.
"Are you okay? Do I need to heal you?" Alyssa asked, jumping
to her feet and running over.
"I'll be fine," Perrin said. "Are you okay, Maighdin?"
"Not after I finish with her, she won't be," Lini said, crossing
her arms under her breasts and staring intensely at Maighdin. "No call
for jumping about like a cricket in a fire, child."
"The Daughter-Heir will be crowned in a week?" Maighdin asked
intently, ignoring Lini and Faile, who was glaring at her.
"Yes. Oh...and did you hear that Nynaeve and Lan got married?"
Perrin smiled. "I'm happy for her."
"She got old stone face to marry her?" Faile asked, clearly
surprised. "Did she use the Power on him?"
"Yeah. And Elayne made him her First Prince of the Sword."
Maighdin said, "Lan? Who is this Lan person? Why didn't she
make one of her brothers her First Prince?"
"They've both run off. Galad joined the Whitecloaks and...I
don't know where the other one went. Anyway, this Lan guy is supposed to
be the King of Malkier or some such thing. Well, he'd be king if it
hadn't collapsed."
"al'Lan Mandragoran?"
"Something like that, yeah. Anyway, if you all want to attend
the Coronation, I can travel us all there, then back here once it's done."
Allisandre said, "I thought Aes Sedai no longer knew how to
travel long distances in a flash."
"You heard wrong," Alyssa said. "Much has been rediscovered of
late. Anyway, and...well, this next bit isn't official, but...Ukyou
thinks Elayne and Rand are going to get married. Or at least engaged."
Allisandre's eyes got big. "She's going to marry the..."
Maighdin simply frothed at the mouth.
Perrin said, "What about Min?"
"Well, there's that Aiel law about multiple wives or something...
I'm not really clear on how it would work." Alyssa sat back down and
started eating again.
Faile shook her head. "Crazy man...multiple wives...Perrin dear,
if you even HINT that..."
"I'd like to not die, you know," Perrin said.
"Nicely put." Faile finished off her breakfast. "How long will
it take us to reach where the Prophet is?"
"Several weeks," the Queen said.
"Good. We'll have time to visit with the Queen to be of Andor,
then. We need to make sure there won't be any legal problems over your
lordship in the Two Rivers," Faile said.
Hopefully, she'll demand it back and I can give it to her,
Perrin thought. But I doubt I'll be that lucky.
**********
Min found Ranma-chan working out in the garden the next day with
Birgitte, Ukyou, and Lan. "Got a minute?" she asked.
"You need me?" Ranma-chan asked, finishing off the kata. She
was wearing a simple white shirt and black trousers today, and glad to be
wearing something more masculine than all the dresses she'd been wearing
of late.
"Yeah." She dragged Ranma-chan off by the arm to a quiet
secluded room with no apparent purpose, simply four walls, a few chairs, a
table, and a door, which she shut. Then she plopped down on a chair.
"I'm trying to...I mean..."
"I can't read your mind. Talk to it, but..."
Min laughed. "I spent a lot of last night talking to Elayne and
Aviendha."
"Man, Rand's gotta make up his mind like I did." There was just
a hint of pride in her voice. "He can't marry all of you. Well, maybe
two of you with that Aiel thing, but...Elayne's kinda got the inside track
if that happens. With Aviendha, I mean. You know what I mean."
"I know. I just...I don't know how I can compete with them. I
don't want to have to, but they're Aes Sedai like him and I'm just..."
"Well, I could teach you to kick much ass," Ranma-chan said,
grinning. "And you don't get someone's love with the Power, anyway. Or
I'd be..." She sighed. "Anyway."
"They're both important people in and of themselves, and if I
have any importance, it's because I'm the Dragon's lover. I'm just a..."
She stared at the table, tracing out meaningless symbols with a finger.
"Although I do have this now." She pulled out her foxhead amulet. "It
stops people channeling at me."
"Hey, that's cool," Ranma-chan said. "Ukyou could use one of
these. You could be the Warder from Hell with one of these."
"If Men could bond someone."
"Talk to the Ash'aman. I heard they figured it out or
something."
"Really?" Min's eyes sparked and she got an evil smile.
"Yeah. Although I dunno how well it would work while you wore
this, but...can't hurt to ask."
She looked across the table at Ranma-chan. "If you could have
married three of your fiancees, would you have?"
"No. I wouldn't marry Kodachi if my life depended on it, and
I'd rather not marry Shampoo, although I'm not fanatically oppossed to it.
I suppose if Akane and Ukyou had gotten together and said I had to marry
both of them I wouldn't have fought it too hard, though." Or Akane and
Alyssa. Or Akane and Ukyou and Alyssa. The thought wiggled into her
brain, and she tried to fumigate it. Best not to waste time on things
that could never be. Not unless she started lusting after men, which the
Foxes had put a stop to.
Min frowned; clearly this wasn't the sort of answer she wanted.
"Do you think Rand would marry all three of us?"
"I think if the three of you asked Rand to shave his head, paint
it blue, and try to pass as a giant Smurf, he would give it his best
shot." Ranma-chan leaned back in her chair. "The real question is what
happens when someone gets pregnant."
Her eyes widened. "Ack."
"But luckily, I know a trick I can teach Elayne and Aviendha
to...umm...err...won't do you much good, though, unless you have an Aes
Sedai on tap...and I dunno how a man would do it..." She blushed.
"Can you tell if someone is pregnant?"
"Yeah, that's easy." Ranma-chan grasped the source and wove
Earth, Water, and Spirit. "No buns in the oven yet."
Min laughed. "That's a relief. I never..." She shook her head.
"I can't believe I didn't even think of that. I guess you and Ukyou use
that trick you mentioned."
"I'm always a guy when we have sex."
"Can't you use it on her first?"
"..."
Min laughed even louder. "So you didn't think of it?"
"Oh man, if she's preggers, she's gonna...man, I don't know what
would happen to a baby if she changed sex..."
"Probably would go the same place your...breasts go when you turn
male."
Ranma-chan let her chair settle all the way back to the floor.
"In the future, I will make sure I do that EVERY time. We can't afford
any kids until AFTER Tarmon Gai'don." She shook her head. "And that
could be years." A thought took her. "Oh...Elayne and Nynaeve and
company don't know about my curse yet. Please don't tell them. I know I
should, but I just..."
"Afraid they'll get mad?"
"I'm being an idiot, but...Egwene doesn't know either. I'm
just...I think most Aes Sedai would freak and..." She stared at the
table. "I can't believe it, but I like being Aes Sedai. Even if most of
us are idiots. I don't want to end up as a book study by some Brown
Ajah." She sighed. "I guess I'm being stupid."
"I won't tell them, but you're gonna have to tell them
eventually."
Ranma-chan leaned back in her chair again. "I know. I
just...You've heard Nynaeve rant about Men."
Min laughed. "Yep. I can see your point."
"Exactly."
************
Suroth stared at the twisted doorway. Was it fate? She had
planned to steal it, but it had stolen itself, apparently. It was secured
inside her bedroom now, and heavily guarded. They might cheat, but it
could be a very valuable tool. For one thing, she was hoping they could
put her head back together...she could tell her efforts to pretend to be
Suroth weren't working very well.
She'd collected some items and odd knicknacks they might like as
trade items--lacquers, wine, several a'dams, some illustrated books, fine
robes, jewelry, and some statuettes. Shoving it all through was going to
be a pain and a half. She rolled up her sleeves. Time to get cracking.
************
"No, Mistress Cologne," Sasuke said as he stood in the doorway.
"Mistress Kodachi has left to visit friends and pick flowers."
"Is her brother with her?"
"I believe he was chasing her when they left, yes."
Mousse frowned. "Now what?"
Cologne turned to Mousse. "I will have to teach you a new trick.
Only you can do it...I'm getting too old and some of my senses are
fading."
Mousse stared in shock. "You're going to actually teach ME
something?"
"I don't see anyone else named Mousse," Cologne said. "Come with
me, Mousse...this may take a little while to master." Especially since I
need to turn you into a duck first, she thought.
**********
Kasumi looked down at the outfit Nabiki had dressed her up in.
"Is this really necessary?" It was far too warm for trenchcoats, although
the sunglasses were stylish.
"No one would ever expect me to wear such a cheesy disguise,
therefore if they see it, they'll assume it's someone else," Nabiki
pronounced, looking up from _Japan Financial News Daily_. "And you never
wear disguises, so it's even better for you. And since we don't want
Kodachi to find us..."
"We could just break the D-hopper," Kasumi said.
"Then she might get mad and break US if she catches us," Nabiki
said. "And if we give it away, she'll assume we hid it. Etc. Since
we're damned no matter what if she catches us, we might as well keep it.
If we HAVE to, we can use it to run away. But she'll never, ever find us
in Bermuda." Nabiki grinned. "Especially since I left tourist brochures
for India, Monaco, and New York City lying around my room with various
points circled and a forged reciept for tickets to Calcutta next to them."
Kasumi nodded. "Are you sure we have enough money?"
"We're loaded, which is why we haven't starved to death despite
Daddy not having earned any money ever that I can remember. Grandpa Tendo
was quite the financial wiz. And since we live pretty frugally, it's not
hard to make ends meet, especially since I can squeeze more money out of
Ranma just existing in any day than it takes to repair the damage he
causes." She shrugged. "And with just the two of us...we can stay on a
nice Caribbean beach for a very long time. And with all the tourists, we
won't stand out too much."
"I wish Dr. Tofu hadn't gone off to visit his family," Kasumi
said, sighing. "I'd feel safer if he was with us."
"He'd have probably had a hard time getting a ticket in time,"
Nabiki said. "The flight was close to full when I bought ours." I would
feel better if we had someone who knew how to fight, though, Nabiki
thought.
Soft footsteps caught Kasumi's attention and...she would have
thought she was smelling something familiar, but it smelled like a person,
which didn't make any sense since they weren't reallly stinky, and how
else could you smell someone unless you stuck your nose to their skin? It
smelled like Ukyou's friend...Konatsu, that was his name. "Konatsu?" she
asked as she turned.
It looked like a Noh actor, in multicolored robes and a bronze
Oni mask. He moved like one as well...in another culture, they might have
called it 'grandstanding'. Not very much like Konatsu at all. Which was
why she was surprised when he said, "Kasumi?"
She took off her sunglasses. "That is you?"
"Yeah." He took off the mask. "I thought no one would recognize
me."
Nabiki now turned and blinked. "Nice disguise. How'd you spot
him, Kasumi?"
She couldn't bring herself to tell the truth; it was too weird.
"Well, Konatsu does disguises, and why would anyone go around in full Noh
regalia in an airport unless they were trying to disguise themself?"
Nabiki blinked, then gave Kasumi a look of respect. "Good
thinking. Although it could have been someone else trying to disguise
himself, but still...good work. What brings you here?"
"Cologne-sama told me about your problem and how Ukyou-sama is in
the other world, so I was hoping to come with you, to guard you until you
got out of the country. Then I hope to use the magic rod to travel to the
world Ukyou-sama is in and help her."
"Sounds fine with me," Nabiki said. "Do you have enough money
for a ticket?"
With a flick of the wrist, a ticket appeared in Konatsu's hand,
the same flight as Nabiki and Kasumi had. In fact, the seat was right
next to Kasumi's, the left aisle seat. "Yes. I already bought one."
Nabiki blinked. "How'd you know which flight?"
"The art of the Teahouse Kunoichi has many secrets." He stripped
out of the Noh costume, quickly bundling it and attaching it to the back
of the mask, which he then slipped into the carrybag slung across his
back. "We must be alert. I found this in the hallway." He produced a
black rose from inside a sleeve.
"Oh great. And our flight doesn't leave for an hour," Nabiki
said. I should have gotten the first flight to ANYWHERE, then found a
connecting flight, but nooooo, I had to get the best rate. Damn me to
hell, she thought.
"HOHOHOHOHO! This is your airport announcer. Will Nabiki Tendo
or Kasumi Tendo please come to the Black Courtesy Phone?" The voice was
high pitched and female.
Kasumi started to get up, but Nabiki and Konatsu both grabbed her
hand. "It's a TRAP," Nabiki hissed. "That was Kodachi!"
"But what if it's someone else?"
"There aren't any BLACK courtesy phones," Konatsu said. "And I'd
recognize that laugh anywhere."
"Oh my," Kasumi said.
*********
Semirhage had all eyes on her in the backroom of the backwater
inn. At least it was a backwater in her eyes; the largest cities on the
continent would have been villages at best in the Second Age. She was
irritated to have gotten stuck doing this, but she had to admit that
keeping a Queen in line kept her less busy than the Tower did Mesaana or
Arad Doman did for Graendal, while Demandred...the man acted as if he
already WAS Nae'blis. Still, his plan did make sense.
Her one concern was that it was too similar to Rahvin's plan,
although him putting himself forward, a visible target, was most of why it
had failed. The trick was to rule from the shadows. Properly trained,
proxies could do the work and attract the lightning. Excessive hands-on
management fails because you can't be everywhere and supervise all your
subordinates simultaneously. Not at the scale the Chosen operated at.
Thus, it was important to make sure they did exactly the right
thing. Several aspects of the operation were delicate. The target was
surrounded by enough channelers, even if they were a horde of washouts and
failures, to potentially level a small city. Maybe a large city. This
was why Semirhage intended to be nowhere nearby when it was carried out.
No one would notice small amounts of channeling, but if things got out of
hand, an army would descend upon her minions.
Normally, she would have simply waited, but things were coming to
a head. Caemlyn needed to be firmly in hand when the Borderland army
arrived. Assuming any of it survived its encounter with the Black Tower,
they needed to be sure that Elayne declared war on the invaders from the
Borderlands. Such an invasion would further hamper any cooperation among
the nations, and likely force Al'Thor to either support Andor and lose the
Borderlands, or support the Borderlands and lose both, since the
Borderlands would be of little use to anyone if the army they had sent
South perished.
Her one concern was the forces that Mesaana reported had been sent
to deal with the Black Tower. She had just a tiny bit of respect for the
White Tower now; its force sent to attack the Black Tower had split up
into small bands and practically vanished. Likely it would catch the
Black Tower by surprise, and possibly even triumph, although if the
reports from Osan'gar were accurate...Assuming Shadar Haran had passed on
accurate information; she did not trust the Mydraal. Not that she really
trusted very many people she hadn't personally trained into a state where
she could trust them.
Taim and this Kaneda person...and the so-called 'Hall of the
Servants'. They both knew too much, secrets that only someone from the
Age of Legends could know. Had they been taught by one of the Chosen now
fallen? Or by one now living?
Taim at least had a history, although it was marked by a sudden
change...a man who vanished for close to a decade from his hometown, then
emerged as one of the most powerful and competent False Dragons of all
time, only to be defeated by his horse rearing up. It rang false to her.
Perhaps he had never intended to succeed. Or perhaps I am getting
paranoid, she thought. It could be that the Pattern did strike him down.
But that in itself had disturbing implications.
Kaneda was worse. The man had no past that anyone could
discover. He had sprung fully grown from the ground in Tanchico, it
seemed, then gradually built up an army of skilled fighters and
channelers. Channelers who possessed tricks lost since the Age of
Legends. Al'Thor, who was becoming paranoid, trusted the man. His lover,
who had washed out of the tower, now, if rumor was true, had enough power
to possibly go toe to toe with the best the Tower could produce. If she
hadn't known better, she would have suspected he was one of the Chosen in
disguise. But he couldn't be. There was no one left to play the role.
Which was where her real worries came in. What if...the Creator
was starting to give new flesh to fallen champions of the Light from the
Age of Legends? It could not be...he did not do such things...supposedly.
She had seen too many truths shatter to trust that. Was it possible? A
hero of the Horn of Valere, perhaps? Maybe when it had been sounded, the
heroes had not departed. Or possibly, just maybe...maybe the Creator WAS
going to take a hand. The Chosen had slept for three thousand
years...what if the Creator had hidden away an equal number of HIS Chosen?
Given them new flesh in some manner?
The idea chilled her to the bone. Things were moving too
quickly; they'd spent a century preparing the last time, but now they had
months at best before the Great Lord would be free and whatever he was
planning would come to fruition. He was impatient, moving too fast, but
she had to obey him. Even though too quick of action always led to
disaster.
She turned her attention back to those around her; too much time
spent lost in thought and they might think her senile. She could disabuse
them of that, but it would take time she didn't have. At least she had a
mindtrap to work with. Conditioning Elayne would take too long, but
properly mindtrapping her would be just as good until there WAS time to be
sure. Assuming, of course, that these fools didn't botch the job. I hate
rushing, she thought. I hate it.
*************
Suroth was wiser but poorer when she emerged. And her arms hurt
from too much cooking. Apparently the Foxes had a taste for ramen, and
she'd foolishly agreed to cook for ALL of them. I've been a idiot, she
thought. Suckered by one of the Forsaken and serving an EVIL empress.
Her first wish had been to have access to all of Suroth's memories and
knowledge and to her own without going insane. This had told her more
than she had EVER wanted to know.
She had thought about wishing to be able to channel, but it was
too dangerous while being Suroth...she'd end up leashed, most likely.
She'd thought about wishing for her body back, but she felt like it was
her duty to wreck all of Suroth and Demandred and the evil Empress' plans.
So, instead she had wished for a 'Wand of Stilling'. Demandred was going
to wish he'd never met Shampoo.
The third wish had come from thinking about Suroth's memories.
Suroth had known about a very powerful artifact called the Horn of Valere.
So Suroth/Shampoo had wished for it. It was at that point she had learned
that since she hadn't actually wished for safe transit out, she was going
to have to stay.
They thought using her as a slave to make ramen for them forever
would be funny. Until she drugged the ramen, then robbed them blind and
threw some gem marked 'Delicate--Prison of the Troll Gods. This end up.'
into the middle of the drugged, hallucinating Foxes. It shattered, and
she ran as anarchy swept through the place.
She was just glad to have gotten out alive, and she really hoped
they couldn't come looking for her. She was of two minds as to whether or
not to keep her big bag of loot. It had all looked useful, and it was her
rightful war booty, but...it also might put up big flags to the Foxes,
'Come stomp Shampoo here.' But what was life without risk?
**********
Demandred moved pins on his map. Everything was coming together
nicely. The second of Jumara, in a little less than a week, would be a
crucial day. Elayne would be crowned, and then it would be time to put a
leash on her. The White Tower's forces, who even Mesaana had lost track
of, would arrive at the Black Tower and both sides would greatly weaken
each other. Two days later, they would be hammered by the Borderlands
army, to which the survivors of Elaida's forces would flee with a little
nudge from his agent within their numbers. By the time the news of this
reached Caemlyn, Elayne would be under Semirhage's control. And Haldane's
forces would be primed to absorb what was left of the Black Tower or
destroy it.
And through her, they could manipulate that horde of channelers
she had picked up. Oh, they might be mere babes, failures and rejects,
but so many of them...they had their uses. Especially if Elayne could be
made to keep them free of the Tower.
There was only one worry in his mind. Something had killed one
of his two Gholams. Given that they were virtually unkillable except by
the True Power, this bothered him. They were somewhat more vulnerable to
one side of the Power, but still...only the True Power could kill them.
Even balefire hadn't stopped them. But now one was dead. The other
Gholam didn't even know what had killed it.
It had happened before, once during the War of Power. They
hadn't figured out what destroyed the Kraken, a great sea monster of
Aginor's creation, but it had died like that, with flames that burnt
underwater. Perhaps it was simply a flaw of construction, but...It was
probably the twisted doorway. He had to have it, but he had no clue where
it had vanished to.
Still, all was moving well. He would have to make some
preparations for the arrival of the Seanchan Empress' daughter in Ebou
Dar, such as deciding if Suroth was still stable enough for the job. Her
erratic behavior had declined, but now...he had the feeling she was up to
something. He hoped it would not be necessary to compel her...compelled
servants were rarely as effective as those who served with full control of
their wits. He would do what he had to, though.
***********
Konatsu, Nabiki, and Kasumi settled down in their seats, and
Nabiki got out the in-flight magazine. Time for a nice crossword puzzle.
The plane lifted off without any trouble, and soon they were on their way
across the Pacific. The first drink service started, and Nabiki ignored
it. Until she heard Konatsu give a strangled cry. Kodachi in a flight
stewardess uniform was standing over him; he was paralyzed.
"Not bad," Nabiki said, "But how do you plan to make your
getaway?"
"The Dimension Hopper of course. I will be reunited with my Ranma
and together we will rule all of creation! HOHOHOHOHO HOHO!!!!"
Of course you will, Nabiki thought. Time for desperate measures,
she thought. "Do you promise to let us go if I just give it to you?"
"Of course! I care nothing for you, as you are no rival or enemy
of mine." Kodachi held out a hand.
Nabiki casually hooked Kasumi's foot with one foot, which caused
Kasumi to give her a funny look, and put her other foot touching Konatsu's
leg. I hate to do this, she thought, but I'm not going to risk Cologne
being right about all of creation being destroyed. She reached into her
purse and pulled out the D-hopper. "This thing, right?"
"Right."
Nabiki punched the button on top and prayed it worked on just the
people she was touching. This was, however, not the case. The glow
expanded to engulf herself, her companions, Kodachi, the drink rack, the
suspiciously Kunou shaped bundle on the bottom of the drink rack, the
people in the rows in front of and behind her, and the in-flight magazine.
***********
Sam Beckett was quite certain things couldn't get any worse. This
time he was in the body of a left-handed Latverian lesbian
lactose-intolerant lithographer who was about to be experimented on by
some sort of mad scientist with an assistant named Rogi. And Al hadn't
shown up yet.
Al finally DID show up. "Hmm. You're not gonna believe this."
"It doesn't get much more unbelievable than this."
"In about 30 seconds, three Japanese tourists from another
dimension are going to fall on the mad scientist, crushing him. Then..."
"WHAT?"
"You then have to help them return to their home dimension."
"..."
It only got weirder for him from there, although he did enjoy
finishing the crossword puzzle in the flight magazine that came with them.
***********
The Stainless Steel Rat was not a happy man. It had been planned
as a nice simple heist. Okay, a nice simple heist of an atomic bomb which
some terrorist nutjob had planned to use on a hapless city.
Unfortunately, things had gone wrong, and now the terrorists were about to
shoot him.
"Ready."
He racked his brain for a plan, but they'd done a damn good job
of sealing the exits and immobilizing him with these weird restraints that
had been devised for helping people from heavy gravity worlds adapt to
lower gravity by restricting their movements. In his case, it restricted
him to the point he couldn't move.
"Aim!"
He said a short prayer, deciding to not take any chances. Might
as well repent now when he had nothing to lose.
"Fi...ACK!" Three people fell from nowhere on the firing squad
leader and the two men by them. Their guns went off at a bad angle,
knocking out key elements of the restraining system without hurting him.
There is a God, he thought. Now I just have to figure out how
to get him to do things like this more often.
**********
Kodachi was gone, and so was the plane when things cleared for
Kasumi, Nabiki, and Konatsu. They found themselves lying on top of an
incredibly surprised old man who had been trying to sleep when they
arrived. He had thick white moustaches, and pleasant eyes, though those
eyes were quickly turning suspicious. "WHO are you people and WHAT are
you doing?"
Konatsu fell off the bed, still paralyzed. Nabiki said, "Running
away from a lunatic." She jumped off the bed. "Sorry about that...this
thing doesn't have very good aim."
"Oh my," Kasumi said, getting off the bed and kneeling by
Konatsu. "Snap out of it, Konatsu-san."
There was running in the hallway, and the door flew open. Akane
in a nightgown (carrying a sword), and two men neither of them knew (both
also with swords) sprinted in. "What's going on...Kasumi?"
"Did Dad find you?" Nabiki asked.
"Dad's in this world?"
"Do you know these people, Akane?" the man on the bed asked.
"Thom, these are my older sisters Kasumi and Nabiki, and the
person on the floor is Konatsu. What happened to him?"
"Paralytic poison. Kodachi. She's gone nuts and is trying to
get to this world to 'rule the Universe with my darling Ranma-sama.'.
More or less," Nabiki said. "So Dad and the Saotomes haven't found you?"
"It's a big planet. They could be in Seanchan for all I know."
"Just great," Nabiki said. "Well, we'll just go back home now; I
think we've lost Kodachi."
"What if we end up where the plane was?" Kasumi asked. "It would
be gone by now."
"..."
Konatsu began to snap out of the effects of the poison. "I
intend to stay. I must find Ukyou-sama."
"Also, the 'low battery' light is flashing on it," Kasumi said.
"Hey, I used Duracell!" Nabiki said.
"Should have used Everready."
***********
Queen Tenobia couldn't sleep. She had easily slipped past her
sentries, who were nodding off (they would be punished tomorrow), and
clambered up the rise on which her army was camped to its highest point,
then gazed off south towards Caemlyn. Was this the wisest choice?
Bashere had to be shown he couldn't just run off and join the service of
another monarch, and the Dragon, if such he was, needed to learn proper
respect for the Kings and Queens of the world...but the Blightborder was
only thinly guarded now, especialy with both her army and Bashere's gone.
What if it came to war? Could they really fight the Dragon, even
with the aid of the Aes Sedai who travelled with them? This looked to be
the sort of conflict that no one really won. If he was the Dragon, and
they antagonized him too far, he might leave them to die when the Trollocs
came in force, as she knew they would. What if they came today?
Lost in thought, she didn't hear the muffled cry until AFTER the
wrapped in cloth semi-conscious samurai fell from the sky onto her. But
just about everyone heard HER shout. Soon, all were in motion.
***********
Ranma-chan worked on a kata while Ukyou and Birgitte were sparring
and Lan was doing a swordform. It's an open tossup as to which one of us
has a warder who kicks the most ass, she thought. I bet Lan and Birgitte
couldn't jump onto the roof from a standing start, though.
It was early in the morning, and most of the palace was asleep,
but they were all early risers, so they were working out together. Lan
and Birgitte had been startled at first by her joining them, but they were
used to it now.
None of them were used, however, to what happened next. Kodachi
fell from the sky on her head, slamming her into the stone ground. She
quietly passed out.
**********
She woke up with Nynaeve seated near her, looking concerned. She
was lying on a bed built for two with blue and silver sheets, nice and
soft. She guessed it was Nynaeve and Lan's room; she hadn't been there
yet. Ukyou and Lan were talking quietly across the room. Ukyou sprang up
and ran over. "You're awake!"
"I didn't imagine Kodachi, did I?"
"She tried to carry you off, but then Birgitte put an arrow
through her leg and she lost her grip on you."
Great, Ranma-chan thought. Now Kodachi's gonna want Birgitte
dead. "Did you have to get that violent on her? I mean...she's not all
that tough."
Ukyou frowned. "She caught Lan with those damn flowers of hers
and managed to tie up my legs so I couldn't GET to her. Then she was
about to bound off with you."
"This woman thinks you're her husband?" Nynaeve asked, clearly
confused. She sounded a little mad too; probably because Lan, who looked
faintly embarrassed, had been caught by the woman.
"She's a total nutcase. Where is she?"
"She opened a travelling gate and left," Ukyou said. "She's
learned to channel somehow!"
"She never did that before!" Ranma-chan said, then
realized...no one could channel in Nerima, but maybe she somehow learned,
and couldn't do it until she got here. "Great."
Ukyou fidgeted on one foot. "Are you...you're not having any
problems with memories or anything are you? It seems like every time you
bang your head, you think you're the Shah of Iran or something."
"Hey, I thought we agreed we'd NEVER mention that time ever
again," Ranma-chan said. "Anyway, I know who I am." She glanced over at
Nynaeve. I can't reassure Ukyou right with her watching...
She did a quick mental inventory. My name is Ranma Saotome. I
was cursed at Jyusenkyo. I'm engaged to Ukyou. I'm really a boy, but I'm
in a girl body right now since I can only channel when I'm a...when I'm in
my girl body. I was engaged to Akane, who is a girl, but is now dating a
girl. I do martial arts and channeling. I'm not a kumquat or secretly a
girl or Elvis. And I don't pilot an EVA. Everything seemed to be in
place as far as she could tell. Ukyou looked a little cuter than usual,
but Ukyou looking cute was quite normal. "I feel fine. So I just had a
head injury?"
"And a compulsion," Nynaeve said. "Rather skillfully done, but
while I was probing your injuries, I found it. So I sliced it off. And
there were some tied off, inverted weaves I accidentally unravelled in the
process. I couldn't quite tell what they did...something about water,
though."
I'd best fix those soon, Ranma-chan thought. "A compulsion?
Damn...You'd better doublecheck Lan in case she's started putting those in
her flowers."
"And check me...just in case," Ukyou said. "I don't want any
sudden urges to mindlessly worship Kodachi or something."
"I'll check you," Ranma-chan said, grasping the source. The
knowledge gained from Kaneda's wish would be useful for this. With a few
quick probes, she discovered that while there was evidence of something
which had...there were Power residues in Ukyou's brain, though very faint
and fading, but no sign of any compulsions. She wove a general antidote
for compulsions and applied that, just to be sure. "Weird. It's like
maybe someone did something to your mind in the past, but...or maybe I
don't understand what I'm seeing and this is because you're a Dreamer?"
"To my...Well, one of my wishes was to think clearly. And another
was to read and speak and understand all languages." He laughed. "But I
have to actually think about thinking clearly to use it. Did you wish for
something that might have required the Foxes to put a Compulsion on you?"
Ranma-chan frowned. "I haven't been acting any different, have
I?"
"I'll think about it, but you seem pretty normal." A suspicion
seized him. What if Alyssa had done this? Directed Ranma-chan towards me
in order to make sure she got Akane to herself? But surely Ranchan would
have seen her do it. Ukyou frowned, then stepped over to her. "Do
you..." He couldn't quite bring himself to ask, 'Do you still love me?'
"I'm hungry," Ranma-chan said, jumping off the bed. "Let's get
some food. Thanks for the first aid!"
"What are we going to do about Kodachi?" Nynaeve asked.
"Keep an eye open. Not much else we CAN do," Ukyou said,
sighing. "Let's go, Ranchan."
***********
Ukyou woke up the next morning with Ranma-chan's feet on his
face. She'd done a one eighty in the night and now had her head at the
wrong end of the bed. He brushed the feet aside, picked up Ranma-chan,
and turned her around. That woke her up. She yawned. "I had the
weirdest dream where God told me that my promise to my Mother was
absolved. I wish."
"Ranchan...would you REALLY kill yourself if your mother said you
were unmanly?"
Ranma-chan turned and stared at the wall. "I don't know. If
I'd promised on the Oath Rod, I'd have to, but I've never sworn on it. If
I didn't kill myself...I'd lose all my honor."
"What about ME? What about your promises to ME?"
"I think we could convince her that took priority."
Ukyou frowned. "What if you couldn't? What if she demanded you
kill yourself. Would you do it?"
Ranma-chan shrank in on herself. "You wouldn't want to be
married to a guy with no honor."
"Ranchan, I couldn't give a damn about some stupid promise your
father the brainless twit made because he wanted to run away from his
wife. You were five years old! You had no CLUE what you were doing!"
She rolled over and stared at Ukyou. "I was the same age when I
got engaged to you, and you took that seriously enough to try to hunt me
down and kill me for running out on you."
Ukyou's mouth flapped wordlessly.
"If my promise to her isn't valid, neither was my engagement to
you."
Ukyou choked down waves of panic. Think clearly, he thought.
"There's a difference."
"What?"
"You've reaffirmed your promise to me once you were old enough
to know what you were doing." He reached over and took Ranma-chan's
hands. "You told me you wanted to make our engagement work. That was a
promise, Ranchan. And our marriage can't work if you're dead."
She nodded quietly. "But...I have to keep all my promises
or...I'll be just like Pop."
"You're nothing like your father." He leaned closer. "A
promise made by an adult is more important than a promise you can't even
remember made by a child. Isn't that true?"
Ranma-chan nodded slowly. "I guess...I mean...I was never cut
out to be a White...I should talk to Olwen. She's good at figuring out
these things."
"Olwen...the Accepted?"
"Yeah. She's a serious brain, and she's going to be a White and
they spend all their time figuring out this sort of stuff." Ranma-chan's
voice returned to its usual confident tone. "I'll ask her."
**********
Olwen and Ranma-chan sat in a tent in the 'Salidar' Aes Sedai
camp while Ranma-chan explained everything. She had made a quick
Travelling jump to the camp, which had been in the same place for a while
now, which made this easy. "So what takes priority?" It had been hard to
convert everything to terms which wouldn't give away certain secrets, but
Ranma-chan felt she'd laid it out pretty well.
"Well, while five year olds SHOULD keep their promises, they
simply can't make EITHER of those kinds of promises. They can't get
married and they can't promise to kill themself. They don't REALLY
understand what they're talking about. And really, your engagement takes
priority. So I'd say that if your mother showed up and tried to tell you
you were being too mannish and had to die, it would be perfectly honorable
to tell her to go dunk her head. Not to mention, a mother forcing her
child to kill herself is simply..." Olwen shuddered. "It sounds like
something a Darkfriend would do."
"My mother is NOT a Darkfriend!"
Olwen waved her arms about. "No, no, I didn't mean that. It
just...There is NO moral obligation for you to kill yourself."
"But if that doesn't count, then I'm not engaged to Ucchan
either."
"You made the commitment yourself, it sounds like. And even if
that didn't count...just ask him to marry you. That WILL count, I
guarantee it." She shrugged. "Anyway, I doubt your mother will say
you're too mannish. You're more feminine than a fair number of Aes Sedai
I know."
Ranma-chan winced. This was NOT what she wanted to hear. "So
you say both promises are invalid, but I've made a new one."
"Yes. Although I AM surprised you're marrying a guy. I always
thought you preferred women." She gave a tiny shake of her head. "I
nearly died when I saw you with a guy. Cute one too."
Ranma-chan gulped. Should I be honest with her? I don't want
her to think I'm gay...I'm not gay! I'm a guy and I like women! Yeah,
that's it, she thought. But I can't tell her that. Impulses warred
within her. Random slips of the tongue wore out. "I was kinda surprised
myself."
"So you DO like women!"
"Uh...yeah." She blushed.
"Hah! Malinda owes me ten silvers now!" Olwen briefly went
through her usual 'I win again' cackle. "I guess you like women and men,
then."
Ranma-chan gulped. "Something like that." Men who ARE women,
anyway, she thought.
"Well, he's a lucky guy. If you ever want to have a threesome,
let me know," Olwen said.
Ranma-chan's eyes flared. "What?" She is kinda cute,
Ranma-chan thought. Although a bit tall. Relative to my girl body.
Olwen giggled. "So what else do you want to talk about?"
"You'd really...with us?"
Olwen blushed slightly. "Yeah. Ummm..." She stared at the
ground. "And I tell Malinda she has a big mouth."
"So...ah...when do you guys start marching on Tar Valon?"
The conversation soon headed for safer ground.
*********
Ukyou sparred with Lan. He was good. Damn good. If he had
possessed any knowledge of chi techniques at all, he could have gone toe
to toe with any of the Nerimans and had a good chance of winning. But chi
gave Ukyou a substantial edge, strength, speed, and endurance beyond what
Lan could dream of having. He was trying to teach Lan some techniques,
but Lan's whole fighting style, having been developed in a world which
knew naught of chi kept getting in the way. Philosophy more than his
style, per se.
He leaped over Lan, then swatted him in the butt with the
mega-spatula. "I wish we had a raging ocean handy...that would make
teaching you about chi easier...that's how I learned."
He smiled a tight smile. "There's enough channelers to make our
own raging ocean, I think. So where is Ranko?"
Ukyou sighed and leaned on his mega-spatula. "She's worried
about this stupid promise her father made her make to her mother when she
was age five, that she'd kill herself if she didn't measure up to her
mother's standards by the time they met again. This was when her father
dragged her off to teach her martial arts."
He nodded. "Every oath is important to keep. Why is she
worried? I can't imagine how her mother would not be proud of her."
"The problem is that she has no REAL idea what her mother's
standards are. It was a very vague promise."
"That you don't want her to keep," Lan said.
"Not if it means she dies! I love her! I want her to marry me!"
"Duty is heavier than a..."
"SHE'S GOT A DUTY TO ME! She promised to marry me when she was
six years old! If she keeps her promise to her mother, she breaks the one
she made to me!" Ukyou was getting mad. "If you found out you'd promised
to kill yourself if you didn't measure up to some standard you don't even
know, just on someone else's word that you didn't cut it...would you kill
yourself and leave Nynaeve a widow?"
He frowned at Ukyou. "I have kept all my promises."
He sighed. "Men are completely insane," he said, then turned
and left, leaving Lan in a state of mild confusion.
**********
Ranma-chan found Ukyou in the garden on her return. "Olwen said
neither of my promises counted. But that my promise to you did." She
sounded uncertain. "She said the word of a child didn't...that a promise
only counted if you understood what you were promising."
"Exactly," Ukyou said.
"I just...I feel like I would be breaking a promise, though...It's
just easy to find excuses." She stared at the ground.
Ukyou came over to her. "Ranchan, no one is perfect. I just
want you to marry me and NOT kill yourself over some promise you don't
even remember."
"I don't want to die either."
"Then don't. I want you to promise me..." A set of words came
to her mind. "I want you to swear to me under the Light that you won't
EVER kill yourself."
Ranma-chan gulped, then stared at her feet, then at Ukyou. "I
swear under the Light that I won't ever kill myself."
Ukyou relaxed. "See? And I swear under the Light that I won't
ever kill myself either. Now we're both safe." He took her hands.
"There we go."
"I guess it's not too likely my mom would show up here anyway."
"Yep. And it'll be years before we ever go back." But it won't
be bad as long as I'm with you, he thought.
*********
Cologne cursed. "BY THE LIVERS OF THE SEVEN LUCKY GODS!"
Mousse-duck said, "Quack."
"They're gone! We have no choice; we're going to have to use
that..." She shuddered. "But first, we find where Kodachi stashed Tofu."
"Quack quack?"
"I doubt she thought to remove his scent. Let's get on it." She
turned her back on the airport and started walking.
*********
"She's WHAT?" Ukyou asked Akane. She had met with Alyssa and
Akane again in T'A'R.
"The Saotomes and Daddy are somewhere in this world, along with
Nabiki and Kasumi and Konatsu," Akane said. "Do you know a way we can
find them here?"
"Konatsu?" He's not going to be happy, Ukyou thought. About me
and Ranchan. "We can try." She took each of them by a hand. "Think
about the D-hopper. We can find it, I think." Maybe.
Flicker. Flicker. Flicker. They settled in a grassy field near
a farm; it could have been anywhere in the universe. Every once in a
while, a tent or two appeared briefly. "Probably they're in someone's
camp," Ukyou said, frowning slightly. "I can try to find their dreams,
although I'll have to wait until after the Coronation tomorrow. I need to
get some sleep."
Akane nodded. "Well, we know how...once we get Mat rescued, we
can find Daddy. The Seanchan woman arrives tomorrow, and then during the
festival, we're going to bust him out."
"We can discuss stuff at the coronation," Alyssa said. "I'm
coming with Lord Perrin and Lady Faile and Queen Allisandre." She
blushed. "And Maighdin insisted on coming, along with her friends. She's
acting like it's her own daughter getting crowned. I'd almost think she
WAS Morgase, sometimes."
"Not unless Morgase was reborn VERY quickly," Akane said. I
wonder what Daddy will think of Alyssa. She had a bad feeling about this.
Alyssa nodded. "Well, we'll hook up with your dad soon enough."
She was scared out of her mind at the very prospect.
If Mrs. Saotome tries to make Ranchan kill himself, I'll toss her
into Shaol Ghul myself, Ukyou thought. Ranchan WILL keep the promises
that count.
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/
Everyone has photographic memory. Some people just don't have film.