The Gathering Storm

Page 54

  Sheriam eyed her, skepticism showing. Most of the sisters didnt believe Egwenes Dreaming of the attack. Fools—they wanted to catch the fish, but didnt want to gut it. You didnt raise a woman to Amyrlin, then treat her warnings lightly.

  Siuan waited impatiently, tapping her foot, listening to the conversation inside the tent. Just as she was beginning to wonder if shed need to send another novice, one of Brynes couriers trotted up to the tent on horseback. The ill-tempered brute he was riding was midnight black with white just above the hooves, and it snorted at Siuan as the rider pulled up short, wearing a neat uniform and close-cropped brown hair. Did he have to bring that creature with him?

  "Aes Sedai?" the man asked, bowing to her from horseback. "You have a message for Lord Bryne?"

  "Yes," Siuan said. "And youll see it delivered with all haste. You understand me? All of our lives could depend on it. "

  The soldier nodded sharply.

  "Tell Lord Bryne . . . " Siuan began. "Tell him to watch his flanks. Our enemy has been taught the method we used to get here. "

  "It shall be done. "

  "Repeat it back to me," Siuan said.

  "Of course, Aes Sedai," the slender man said, bowing again. "Just so you know, I have been a messenger in the general s command for over a decade. My memory—"

  "Stop," Siuan interrupted. "I dont care how long youve been doing this. I dont care how good your memory is. I dont care if, by some twist of fate, youve been asked to run this very same message a thousand times before. You will repeat it back to me. "

  "Um, yes, Aes Sedai. Im to tell the Lord General to watch his flanks. Our enemy has been taught the method we used to get here. "

  "Good. Go. "

  The man nodded.

  "Now!"

  He reared that awful horse and galloped out of the camp, cloak flapping behind him.

  "What was that about?" Sheriam asked, glancing away from the proceedings inside the Hall.

  "Making certain we dont wake up with Elaidas army surrounding us," Siuan said. "Ill bet Im the only one who thought to warn our general that the enemy may have just undone our biggest tactical advantage. So much for a siege. "

  Sheriam frowned, as if she hadnt considered that. She wouldnt be alone. Oh, some would think of Bryne, and would be planning to send word to the general eventually. But for many, the catastrophe here wasnt the fact that Elaida could now move her armies to flank them, or that now Brynes siege was useless. The catastrophe would be more personal for them: the knowledge theyd worked to keep secret had fallen into the hands of others. Traveling was theirs, and now Elaida had it! Very Aes Sedai. Indignation first, implication second.

  Or perhaps Siuan was just feeling bitter. Someone inside the tent finally thought to call for the meeting to be Sealed to the Flame, and so Siuan withdrew, stepping off the walkway and onto the hard-packed earth. Novices scuttled this way and that, heads bowed to avoid her eyes, though they were quick to curtsy. / havent been doing a very good job of acting weak today, Siuan thought with a grimace.

  The White Tower was crumbling. The Ajahs weakened one another with petty infighting. Even here, in Egwenes camp, more time was spent politicking than preparing for the coming storm.

  And Siuan was partially responsible for those failures.

  Elaida and her Ajah certainly bore the lionfishs share of the blame. But would the Tower have split in the first place if Siuan had fostered cooperation between the Ajahs? Elaida hadnt had that long to work. Every rift that appeared in the Tower could likely be traced back to tiny cracks during Siuans tenure as Amyrlin. If shed been more of a mediator among the factions of the White Tower, could she have pounded strength into the bones of these women? Could she have kept them from turning on one another like razorfish in a blood frenzy?

  The Dragon Reborn was important. But he was only one figure in the weaving of these final days. It was too easy to forget that, too easy to watch the dramatic figure of legend and forget everyone else.

  She sighed, picking up her laundry and—out of habit—checking to make certain everything was there. As she did so, a figure in white approached her from one of the branching pathways. "Siuan Sedai?"

  Siuan looked up, frowning. The novice before her was one of the strangest in the camp. Nearly seventy years old, Sharina had the weathered, creased face of a grandmother. She kept her silver hair up in a bun, and while she walked without a stoop, there was a certain distinct weight to her. She had seen so much, done so much, passed so many years. And unlike an Aes Sedai, Sharina had lived all of those years. Working, raising a family, even burying children.

  She was strong in the power. Remarkably so; she would wear the shawl for certain, and as soon as she did, shed be far above Siuan. For now, though, Sharina curtsied deeply. She gave an almost perfect show of deference. Of all of the novices, she was known to complain the least, make the least trouble, and study the most assiduously. As a novice, she understood things that most Aes Sedai had never learned—or had forgotten the moment they took the shawl. How to be humble when necessary, how to take a punishment, how to know when you needed to learn rather than pretend you already knew. If only we had a few score more of her, Siuan thought, and a few score less Elaidas and Romandas.

  "Yes, child?" Siuan asked. "What is it?"

  "I saw you picking up that wash, Siuan Sedai," Sharina said. "And I thought that perhaps I should carry it for you. "

  Siuan hesitated. "I wouldnt want you to tire yourself. "

  Sharina raised an eyebrow in a very un-novice-like expression. "These old arms carried loads twice that heavy back and forth from the river just last year, Siuan Sedai, juggling three grandchildren all the way. I think Ill be all right. " There was something in her eyes, a hint that her offer was not all it seemed to be. This one was adept at more than just Healing weaves, it appeared.

  Curious, Siuan let the aged woman take the basket. They began to walk down the pathway toward the novices tents.

  "Its curious," Sharina said, "that such a large disturbance could be caused by such a seemingly simple revelation, wouldnt you say, Siuan Sedai?"

  "Elaidas discovery of Traveling is an important revelation. "

  "And yet nowhere near as important as the ones rumored to have come during the meeting a few months back, when that man who can channel visited. Odd that this should create such a scene. "

  Siuan shook her head. "The thinking of crowds is often odd at first consideration, Sharina. Everyone is still talking about that Ashaman visit, and theyre thirsty for more. So they react with excitement at the chance to hear something else. In that way, the great revelations can come in secret, but then cause lesser ones to be received in an explosion of anxiety. "

  "One could put that observation to good use, I should think. " Sharina nodded to a group of novices as they passed. "If one wanted to cause worry, that is. "

  "What are you saying?" Siuan asked, eyes narrowing.

  "Ashmanaille reported first to Lelaine Sedai," Sharina said softly. "Ive heard that Lelaine was the one who let the news slip. She spoke it out loud in the hearing of a family of novices while calling for the Hall to meet. She also deflected several early calls for the meeting to be Sealed to the Flame. "

  "Ah," Siuan said. "So thats why!"

  "I relate only hearsay, of course," Sharina explained, pausing in the shade of a scraggly blackwood tree. "It is probably just foolishness. Why, an Aes Sedai of Lelaines stature would know that if she let information slip in the hearing of novices, it would soon pass to all willing ears. "

  "And in the Tower, every ear is willing. "

  "Exactly, Siuan Sedai," Sharina said, smiling.

  Lelaine had wanted to create a menagerie of a meeting—shed wanted novices listening in, and every sister in the camp joining in the discussion. Why? And why was Sharina confiding her very un-novice-like opinions?

  The answer was obvious. The more threa
tened the women in the camp felt—the more danger they saw from Elaida—the easier it would be for a firm hand to seize control. Though the sisters were indignant now over the mere loss of a closely guarded secret, they would soon realize the danger that Siuan had already seen. Soon there would be fear. Worry. Anxiety. The siege would never work, not now that the Aes Sedai inside it could Travel wherever and whenever they wished. Brynes army at the bridges had become useless.

  Unless Siuan missed her guess, Lelaine would be making certain that everyone else noticed the implications, too.

  "She wants us scared," Siuan said. "She wants a crisis. " It was clever. Siuan should have seen this coming. The fact that she hadnt—and the fact that shed gotten no wind of Lelaines plans—also whispered an important fact. The woman might not trust Siuan as deeply as she seemed to. Blast!

  She focused on Sharina. The gray-haired woman stood patiently, waiting as Siuan worked through what shed revealed.

  "Why did you tell me this?" Siuan asked. "For all you know, Im Lelaines lackey. "

  Sharina raised her eyebrows. "Please, Siuan Sedai. These eyes arent blind, and they see a woman working very hard to keep the Amyrlins enemies occupied. "

  "Fine," Siuan said. "But you are still exposing yourself for very little reward. "

  "Little reward?" Sharina asked. "Excuse me, Siuan Sedai, but what do you suppose my fate will be if the Amyrlin doesnt return? No matter what she says now, we can sense Lelaine Sedais true opinions. "

  Siuan hesitated. Though Lelaine now played the part of Egwenes pious advocate, not too long ago she had been as displeased as everyone else over the too-old novices. Few liked it when traditions changed.

  Now that the new novices had been entered into the novice book, it would be very difficult to put them out of the Tower. But that didnt mean the Aes Sedai would continue to let older women in. Beyond that, there was a good chance that Lelaine—or whoever ended up with the Amyrlin Seat—would find a way to delay or disrupt the progression of the women who had been accepted against tradition. That would certainly include Sharina.

  "I will let the Amyrlin know of your actions here," Siuan said. "You will be rewarded. "

  "My reward will be Egwene Sedais return, Siuan Sedai. Pray it be swift. She entangled our fate with her own the moment she took us in. After what Ive seen, and what Ive felt, I have no intention of stopping my training. " The woman hefted the basket. "I assume you wish these washed and returned to you?"

  "Yes. Thank you. "

  "I am a novice, Siuan Sedai. It is my duty and my pleasure. " The elderly woman bowed in respect and continued on down the path, walking with a step younger than her years.

  Siuan watched her go, then stopped another novice. Another messenger to Bryne. Just in case. Hurry up, girl, Siuan thought to Egwene, glancing toward the spire of the White Tower. Sharina isnt the only one whose fate is entangled with yours. Youve got us all wound up in that net of yours.

  CHAPTER 19

  Gambits

  Chaos. The entire world was chaos. Tuon stood on the balcony of her audience hall in the palace of Ebou Dar, hands clasped behind her back. In the palace grounds— flagstones washed white, like so many surfaces in the city—a group of Altaran armsmen in gold and black practiced formations beneath the watchful eyes of a pair of her own officers. Beyond them, the city proper rose, white domes banded with colors spreading alongside tall, white spires.