"Who? Moridin?"
"The Dark One".
She drew back in shock. "I’m sorry. What did you—"
"I’m going to kill him", Rand said passionately, leaning in. "I’m going to end the Dark One. We will never have true peace so long as he is there, lurking. I’ll rip open the prison, I’ll enter it and I’ll face him. I’ll build a new prison if I have to, but first, I’m going to try to end all of this. Protect the Pattern, the Wheel, for good".
"Light, Rand, you’re insane!"
"Yes. That is part of the price I have paid. Fortunately. Only a man with shaken wits would be daring enough to try this".
"I’ll fight you, Rand", she whispered. "I won’t let you pull all of us into this. Listen to reason. The White Tower should be guiding you here".
"I’ve known the White Tower’s guidance, Egwene", he replied. "In a box, beaten each day".
The two locked eyes across the table. Nearby, other arguments continued.
"I don’t mind signing this", Tenobia said. "It looks fine to me".
"Bah!" Gregorin snarled. "You Borderlanders never care anything for southern politics. You’ll sign it? Well, good for you. I, however, won’t chain my country to the wall".
"Curious", Easar said. The calm man shook his head, pure white topknot bobbing. "As I understand, it’s not your country, Gregorin. Unless you’re assuming that the Lord Dragon will die, and that Mattin Stepaneos will not demand his throne back. He may be willing for the Lord Dragon to wear the Laurel Crown, but not you, I’m sure".
"Isn’t all of this meaningless?" Alliandre asked. "The Seanchan are our worry now, aren’t they? Peace can never exist so long as they are there.
"Yes", Gregorin said. "The Seanchan and those cursed Whitecloaks".
"We will sign it", Galad said. Somehow the Lord Captain Commander of the Children of the Light had ended up holding the official copy of the document. Egwene didn’t look at him. It was hard not to stare. She loved Gawyn, and not Galad, but . . . well . . . it was hard not to stare.
"Mayene will sign it as well", Berelain said. "I find the Lord Dragon’s will to be perfectly just".
"Of course you’d sign it". Darlin sniffed. "My Lord Dragon, this document seems designed to protect the interests of some nations more than others".
"I want to hear what his third requirement is", Roedran said. "I don’t care anything for talk of the seals; that is Aes Sedai business. He claimed there were three requirements, and we have heard only two".
Rand raised an eyebrow. "The third and final price—the last thing you will pay me in exchange for my life on the slopes of Shayol Ghul—is this: I command your armies for the Last Battle. Utterly and completely. You do as I say, go where I say, fight where I say".
This caused a larger eruption of arguments. It was obviously the least outrageous of the three demands, though it was impossible for reasons Egwene had already determined.
The rulers treated it as an attack on their sovereignty. Gregorin glowered at Rand through the din, only maintaining the most threadbare respect. Amusing, since he had the least authority of them all. Darlin shook his head, and Elayne’s face was livid.
Those on Rand’s side argued back, primarily the Borderlanders. They’re desperate, Egwene thought. They’re being overrun. They probably thought that if command were given to the Dragon, he would immediately march to the defense of the Borderlands. Darlin and Gregorin would never agree to that. Not with the Seanchan breathing down their necks.
Light, what a mess.
Egwene listened to the arguments, hoping they would set Rand on edge. Once, they might have. Now, he stood and watched, arms folded behind his back. His face became serene, though she was increasingly certain that was a mask. She’d seen flashes of his temper inside. Rand certainly was more in control of himself now, but he was by no means emotionless.
Egwene actually found herself smiling. For all of his complaints about Aes Sedai, for all of his insistence that he wouldn’t be controlled by them, he was acting more and more like one of them himself. She prepared to speak and take control, but something in the tent changed. A . . . feeling to the air. Her eyes seemed drawn to Rand. Sounds came from outside, sounds she couldn’t place. A faint cracking sound? What was he doing?
The arguments trailed off. One by one the rulers turned toward him. The sunlight outside dimmed, and she was glad for those spheres of light he had made.
"I need you", Rand said softly to them. "The land itself needs you. You argue; I knew that you would, but we no longer have time for arguments. Know this. You cannot talk me out of my designs. You cannot make me obey you. No force of arms, nor weave of the One Power, can make me face the Dark One for you. I must do it of my own choice".
"You would really toss the world for this, Lord Dragon?" Berelain asked.
Egwene smiled. The lightskirt suddenly didn’t seem so certain of the side she had chosen.
"I won’t have to", Rand said. "You’ll sign it. To fail to do so means death".
"So it’s extortion", Darlin snapped.
"No", Rand said, smiling toward the Sea Folk, who had said little as they stood near Perrin. They had simply read the document and nodded among themselves, as if impressed. "No, Darlin. It’s not extortion . . . it’s an arrangement. I have something you want, something you need. Me. My blood. I will die. We’ve all known this from the start; the Prophecies demand it. As you wish this of me, I will sell it to you in exchange for a legacy of peace to balance out the legacy of destruction I gave the world last time".
He scanned the meeting, looking at each ruler in turn. Egwene felt his determination almost like a physical thing. Perhaps it was his ta’veren nature, or perhaps it was just the weight of the moment. A pressure rose inside the pavilion, making it difficult to breathe.
He’s going do it, she thought. They’ll complain, but they’ll bend.
"No", Egwene said loudly, her voice breaking the air. "No, Rand al’Thor, we will not be bullied into signing your document, into giving you sole control of this battle. And you’re an utter fool if you think I believe you’d let the world—your father, your friends, all those you love, all of humanity—be slaughtered by Trollocs if we defy you".
He met her eyes, and suddenly she wasn’t certain. Light, he wouldn’t really refuse, would he? Would he really sacrifice the world?
"You dare call the Lord Dragon foolish?" demanded Narishma.
"The Amyrlin is not to be spoken to that way", Silviana said, stepping up beside Egwene.
The arguments began again, this time louder. Rand kept Egwene’s eyes, and she saw the flush of anger rise in his face. The shouting rose, tension mounting. Unrest. Anger. Old hatreds, flaring anew, fueled by terror.
Rand rested his hand on the sword he wore these days—the one with the dragons on the scabbard—his other arm folded behind his back.
"I will have my price, Egwene", he growled.
"Require if you wish, Rand. You are not the Creator. If you go to the Last Battle with this foolishness, we’re all dead anyway. If I fight you, then there is a chance I can change your mind".
"Ever the White Tower has been a spear at my throat", Rand snapped. "Ever, Egwene. And now you really have become one of them".
She met his stare. Inside, however, she was beginning to lose certainty. What if these negotiations did break down? Would she really drive her soldiers to fight Rand’s?
She felt as if she had tripped over a rock at the top of a cliff and was tipping toward the fall. There had to be a way to stop this, to salvage it!
Rand started to turn away. If he left the pavilion, that would be the end of it.
"Rand!" she said.
He froze. "I will not budge, Egwene".
"Don’t do this", she said. "Don’t throw it all away".
"It cannot be helped".
"Yes it can! All you have to do is stop being such a Light-burned, woolheaded, stubborn fool for once!"
Egwene drew herself back. How could she have spoken to him as if they were back in Emond’s Field, at their beginning?
Rand stared at her for a moment. "Well, you could certainly stop being a spoiled, self-certain, unmitigated brat for once, Egwene". He threw up his arms. "Blood and ashes! This was a waste of time".
He was very nearly right. Egwene didn’t notice someone new entering the tent. Rand did, however, and he spun as the flaps parted and let in light. He frowned at the interloper.
His frown died as soon as he saw the person who entered.
Moiraine.
CHAPTER 6
A Knack
The pavilion grew quiet again. Perrin hated a racket, and the people’s scents weren’t any better. Frustration, anger, fear. Terror.
Much of it was directed at the woman standing just inside the entrance to the pavilion.
Mat, you blessed fool, Perrin thought, breaking into a grin. You did it. You actually did it.
For the first time in a while, thinking of Mat made the colors swirl in his vision. He saw Mat on a horse, riding along a dusty road, tinkering with something he held. Perrin dismissed the image. Where had Mat gotten to now? Why hadn’t he come back with Moiraine?
It didn’t matter. Moiraine was back. Light, Moiraine! Perrin started toward her to give her an embrace, but Faile caught him by the sleeve. He followed her eyes.
Rand. His face had grown pale. He stumbled away from the table, as if all else had been forgotten, and pushed his way to Moiraine. He hesitantly reached out and touched her face. "By my mother’s grave", Rand whispered, then fell to his knees before her. "How?"
Moiraine smiled, resting a hand on his shoulder. "The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, Rand. Have you forgotten that?"
"I . . ".
"Not as you will, Dragon Reborn", she said gently. "Not as any of us will. Perhaps one day it will weave itself out of existence. I do not believe that day is today, nor a day soon".
"Who is this woman?" Roedran said. "And what is she blathering about? I—" He cut off as something unseen flicked him on the side of the head, causing him to jump. Perrin glanced at Rand, then noticed the smile on Egwene's lips. He caught the scent of her satisfaction despite all of the people in the pavilion.
Nynaeve and Min, standing nearby, smelled utterly shocked. The Light willing, Nynaeve would stay that way for a little while. Shouting at Moiraine wouldn’t help right now.
"You haven’t answered my question", Rand said.
"But I have", Moiraine replied fondly. "It just was not the answer you wanted".
Rand knelt, then threw his head back and laughed. "Light, Moiraine! You haven’t changed, have you?"
"We all change day by day", she replied, then smiled. "Me more than some, lately. Stand up. It is I who should be kneeling before you, Lord Dragon. We all should".