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Every root will die,

Every branchTrolloc, but another one sank its teeth into his leg He bellowed, breaking off his song as he grabbed the Trolloc by the neck He had never considered hiier standards, but he lifted the Trolloc and flung it into its fellows behind

Men--fragile men--were dead all around his feet Their loss of life pained hiiven such a short tiht He knew they thought of theer than they were, but here on the battlefield--with Ogier and Trollocs--they see around underfoot

No He would not see theht with bravery and passion Not children, but heroes Still, seeing theain, louder, and this ti he had not sung before, a song of growing, but not one of the tree songs that were so fa about hireen, cords and ribbons of life sprouted The hafts of the Trolloc polearrow leaves; many of the beasts snarled and dropped the weapons in shock

Loial fought on This song was not a song of victory It was a song of life Loial did not intend to die here on this hillside

By the Light, he had a book to finish before he went!

Mat stood in the Seanchan coenerals Min had only just returned, after being taken away and dressed in Seanchan finery Tuon had gone as well, to see to so back at the ain Maps, maps and more maps Pieces of paper Most of theht of the previous evening How could he know they were accurate? Mat had once seen a street artist drawing a pretty wo picture could have been sold for gold as a dead-on representation of Cenn Buie in a dress

More andthat battle maps were about as useful as a heavy coat in Tear He needed to be able to see the battle, not how soht the battle looked Theout to look at the battlefield", Mat declared

"You’re what?" Courtani asked The Seanchan Banner-General was about as pretty as a bundle of sticks with ar very sour once and--upon finding the resulting gri away birds--had decided to adopt it pero look at the battlefield", Mat said again He set aside his hat, then reached up over his head and grabbed the back of his rich, bulky Seanchan robes He pulled the clothing, aard shoulder pieces and all, over his head with a rustle of silk and lace, then tossed it aside

That left hie breeches the Seanchan had given him, black and somewhat stiff Min raised an eyebrow at his bare chest, which made him blush But what did it matter? She ith Rand, so that made her practically his sister There was Courtani, too, but Mat was not convinced that she was fe under the table for a moment, and pulled out a bundle he had stashed there earlier, then straightened up Min folded her ar looked very nice on her, a dress nearly as rich as the ones worn by Tuon Min’s was a dark green shiny silk with black eh to stick your head into They had done up her hair, too, sticking bits of metal into it, silver with inset firedrops There were hundreds of them If this whole Doomseer title did not work out for her, perhaps she could find work as a chandelier

She was quite fetching in the outfit, actually Odd Mat had always considered Min on the boyish side, but now he found her appealing Not that he looked

The Seanchan in the room seemed stunned that Mat had suddenly stripped to the waist He did not see why They had servants that wore ht, but they did

"I’ the front of her dress

Mat froze, then sputtered He"Burnout of the bundle "I’ll give you a hundred Tar Valon marks if you do it, just so I can tell the story"

That earned hi about striding about like a bloody Aiel Maiden on her way to the sweat tent

Min did not do it, and he was almost sad Almost He had to be careful around Min He was certain that a s not only from her, but from Tuon, and Mat was much happier with only one knife stuck in hiainst his skin--thank the Light, Tuon had understood that he did need it--as he tossed on his coat, also retrieved from the bundle

"How did you retain those?" Captain-General Galgan asked "I was under the i had been burned, Raven Prince"

Galgan looked very silly with that one strip of white hair on his head, but Mat did not mention this It was the Seanchan way Folk could be funny, but he didn’t doubt Galgan could handle hiesturing to his coat and shirt "I really have no idea They were just down there I’m completely baffled" He had been very pleased to learn that Seanchan guards--for all their stoic expressions and too-straight backs--responded to bribes like other people

All but those Deathwatch Guards Mat had learned not to try it with theiven hiain, he’d end up with his face in the mud Perhaps it would be better not to even talk to a Deathwatch Guard again, as it was quite obvious that each and every one one of them had traded his sense of huh, he knew exactly who he would trust with Tuon’s safety

Mat strode out, grabbing his ashandarei froainst the wall as he passed Courtani and Min followed hiood at what she did Mat would rather have kept her behind for company and sent the scarecrow instead Maybe he should have Soht have rooave so Well, she had said she would return shortly anyway, so he had not really expected