"Darkfriends killed two of the women you left to send messages, Your Majesty", he was saying in a tired voice. "Another fell in the fighting. But we retrieved the dragons. Once we . . . we escaped . . " He seemed pained by something. "Once we escaped through the hole in the city wall, we found that several mercenary bands were making their way around the city toward the gate that Lord Talmanes had left defended. By coincidence they were near enough to aid in our escape".
"You did well", Elayne said.
"But the city—"
"You did well" Elayne repeated, voice firm. "You retrieved the dragons and rescued all of these people? I will see you rewarded for this, Captain".
"Give your reward to the men of the Band, Your Majesty. It was their work. And please, if you can do anything for Lord Talmanes . . ". He gestured to the fallen man whom several members of the Band had just carried through the gateway.
Elayne knelt beside him, and Egwene joined her. At first, Egwene assumed that Talmanes was dead, with his skin blackened. Then he drew a ragged breath.
"Light", Elayne said, Delving his prostrate form. "I’ve never seen anything like this".
"Thakan’dar blades", Guybon said.
"This is beyond either of us", Egwene said to Elayne, standing. "I . . ". She trailed off, hearing something over the groans of soldiers and carts creaking.
"Egwene?" Elayne asked softly.
"Do what you can for him", Egwene said, standing and rushing away. She pushed through the confused crowd, following the voice. Was that . . . yes, there. She found an open gateway at the edge of the Traveling grounds, Aes Sedai in a variety of clothing hurrying through to see to the wounded. Gawyn had done his work well.
Nynaeve was asking, quite loudly, who was in charge of this mess. Egwene approached her from the side and grabbed her by the shoulder, surprising her.
"Mother?" Nynaeve asked. "What is this about Caemlyn burning? I—"
She cut off as she saw the wounded. She stiffened, then tried to go to them.
"There is one you need to see first", Egwene said, leading her to where Talmanes lay.
Nynaeve drew in a sharp breath, then went to her knees and pushed Elayne gently aside. Nynaeve Delved Talmanes, then froze, eyes wide.
"Nynaeve?" Egwene said. "Can you—"
An explosion of weaves burst from Nynaeve like the sudden light of a sun coming out from behind clouds. Nynaeve wove the Five Powers together in a column of radiance, then sent it driving into Talmanes’ body.
Egwene left her to her work. Perhaps it would be enough, though he looked far gone. The Light willing, the man would live. She had been impressed with him in the past. He seemed precisely the type of man that the Band—and Mat—needed.
Elayne was near the dragons and was questioning a woman with her hair in braids. That must be Aludra, who had created the dragons. Egwene walked up to the weapons, resting her fingers on one of the long bronze tubes. She had been given reports on them, of course. Some men said they were like Aes Sedai, cast in metal and fueled by the powders from fireworks.
More and more refugees poured though the gateway, many of them townspeople. "Light", Egwene said to herself. "There are too many of them. We cant house all of Caemlyn here at Merrilor".
Elayne finished her conversation, leaving Aludra to inspect the wagons. It appeared that the woman wasn’t willing to rest for the night and see to them in the morning. Elayne walked toward the gateways.
"The soldiers say the area outside the city is secure", Elayne said, passing Egwene. "I’m going through to have a look".
"Elayne . . ". Birgitte said, coming up behind her.
"We’re going! Come on".
Egwene left the Queen to it, stepping back to supervise the work. Romanda had taken charge of the Aes Sedai and was organizing the injured, separating them into groups depending on the urgency of their wounds.
As Egwene surveyed the chaotic mix, she noticed a pair of people standing nearby. A woman and man, Illianers by the looks of them. "What do you two want?"
The woman knelt before her. The fair-skinned, dark-haired woman had a firmness to her features, despite her tall, slender build. "I am Leilwin", she said in an unmistakable accent. "I was accompanying Nynaeve Sedai when the call for Healing was raised. We followed her here".
"You’re Seanchan", Egwene said, startled.
"I have come to serve you, Amyrlin Seat".
Seanchan. Egwene still held the One Power. Light, not every Seanchan she met was dangerous to her; still, she would not take chances. As some members of the Tower Guard came through one of the gateways, Egwene pointed to the Seanchan pair. "Take these somewhere safe and keep watch on them. I’ll deal with them later".
The soldiers nodded. The man went reluctantly, the woman more easily. She couldn’t channel, so she wasn’t a freed damane. That didn’t mean she wasn’t a sul’dam, though.
Egwene returned to Nynaeve, who still knelt beside Talmanes. The sickness had retreated from the man’s skin, leaving it pale. "Take him somewhere to rest", Nynaeve said tiredly to several watching members of the Band. "I’ve done what I can".
She looked up at Egwene as the men carried him away. "Light", Nynaeve whispered, "that took a lot out of me. Even with my angreal. I’m impressed that Moiraine managed it with Tam, all that time ago . . ". There seemed to be a note of pride in Nynaeve’s voice.
She had wanted to heal Tam, but could not—though, of course, Nynaeve had not known what she had been doing at the time. She had come a long, long way since then.
"Is it true, Mother?" Nynaeve asked, rising. "About Caemlyn?"
Egwene nodded.
"This is going to be a long night", Nynaeve said, looking at the wounded still pouring through the gateways.
"And a longer tomorrow", Egwene said. "Here, let us link. I’ll lend you my strength".
Nynaeve looked shocked. "Mother?"
"You are better at Healing than I". Egwene smiled. "I may be Amyrlin, Nynaeve, but I am still Aes Sedai. Servant of all. My strength will be of use to you".
Nynaeve nodded and they linked. The two of them joined the group of Aes Sedai that Romanda had set Healing the refugees with the worst wounds.
"Faile has been organizing my network of eyes-and-ears", Perrin said to Rand as the two of them hurried toward Perrin’s camp. "She might be there with them tonight. I’ll warn you, I’m not certain she likes you".
She would be a fool to like me, Rand thought. She probably knows what I’m going to require of you before this is over.
"Well", Perrin said, "I guess that she does like that I know you. She’s cousin to a queen, after all. I think she still worries you’ll go mad and hurt me".
"The madness has already come", Rand said, "and I have it in my grip. As for hurting you, she’s probably right. I don’t think I can avoid hurting those around me. It was a hard lesson to learn".
"You implied that you’re mad", Perrin said, hand resting on his hammer again as he walked. He wore it at his side, large though it was; he’d obviously needed to construct a special sheath for it. An amazing piece of work. Rand kept intending to ask whether it was one of the Power-wrought weapons his Asha’man had been making—"But Rand, you’re not. You don’t seem at all crazy to me".
Rand smiled, and a thought fluttered at the edge of his mind. "I am mad, Perrin. My madness is these memories, these impulses. Lews Therin tried to take over. I was two people, fighting over control of myself. And one of them was completely insane".
"Light", Perrin whispered, "that sounds horrible".
"It wasn’t pleasant. But . . . here’s the thing, Perrin. I’m increasingly certain that I needed these memories. Lews Therin was a good man. I was a good man, but things went wrong—I grew too arrogant, I assumed I could do everything myself. I needed to remember that; without the madness . . . without these memories, I might have gone charging in alone again".
"So you are going to work with the others?" Perrin asked, looking up toward where Egwene and the other members of the White Tower were camped. "This looks an awful lot like armies gathering to fight one another.
I’ll make Egwene see sense", Rand said. "I’m right, Perrin. We need to break the seals. I don’t know why she denies this".
"She’s the Amyrlin now". Perrin rubbed his chin. "She’s Watcher of the Seals, Rand. It’s up to her to make sure they’re cared for".
"It is. Which is why I will persuade her that my intentions for them are correct".
"Are you sure about breaking them, Rand?" Perrin asked. "Absolutely sure?"
"Tell me, Perrin. If a metal tool or weapon shatters, can you stick it back together and make it work properly?"
"Well, you can? Perrin said. "It’s better not to. The grain of the steel . . . well, you’re almost always better off reforging it. Melting it down, starting from scratch".
"It is the same here. The seals are broken, like a sword. We can’t just patch the pieces. It won’t work. We need to remove the shards and make something new to go in their place. Something better".
"Rand", Perrin said, "that’s the most reasonable thing anyone has said on this topic. Have you explained it that way to Egwene?"
"She’s not a blacksmith, my friend". Rand smiled.
"She’s smart, Rand. Smarter than either of us. She’ll understand if you explain it the right way".
"We shall see", Rand said. "Tomorrow".
Perrin stopped walking, his face lit by the glow of Rand’s Power-summoned orb. His camp, beside Rand’s, contained a force as large as any on the field. Rand still found it incredible that Perrin had gathered so many, including—of all things—the Whitecloaks. Rand’s eyes-and-ears indicated that everyone in Perrin’s camp seemed loyal to him. Even the Wise Ones and Aes Sedai with him were more inclined to do what Perrin said than not.
Sure as the wind and the sky, Perrin had become a king. A different kind of king than Rand—a king of his people, who lived among them. Rand couldn’t take that same path. Perrin could be a man. Rand had to be something more, for a little time yet. He had to be a symbol, a force that everyone could rely upon.
That was terribly tiring. Not all of it was physical fatigue, but instead something deeper. Being what people needed was wearing on him, grinding as surely as a river cut at a mountain. In the end, the river would always win.
"I’ll support you in this, Rand", Perrin said. "But I want you to promise me that you won’t let it come to blows. I won’t fight Elayne. Going up against the Aes Sedai would be worse. We can’t afford to squabble".
"There won’t be fighting".
"Promise me". Perrin’s face grew so hard, one could have broken rocks against it. "Promise me, Rand".