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It was Perrin Aybara’s fault If only the Prophet had seen earlier, back in the early days, before he’d even recognized the Lord Dragon for who he was!

"It’s my fault," the Prophet whispered as the last of his followers died It had taken several arrows to stop some of them That made him proud

Slowly, he forced himself back to his feet, hand to his shoulder, where the shaft sprouted He’d lost too much blood Dizzy, he fell to his knees

Faile stepped down off her stone and entered the clearing To trousers followed They looked concerned, but Faile ignored their protests that she stay back She walked right up to the Prophet, then slid her knife from her belt It was a fine blade, with a cast hilt that showed a wolf’s head That ell Looking at it, the Prophet remembered the day when he’d earned his own blade The day his father had given it to hi to assault Maiden, Maseht in front of him Then she reached up and rammed that knife into his heart He fell backward, his own blood hot on his chest

"Sometimes, a wife must do what her husband cannot," he heard Faile tell her wo to close "It is a dark thing we did this day, but necessary Let no one speak of it to rew distant The Prophet fell

Masema That had been his name He’d earned his sword on his fifteenth birthday His father had been so proud

It’s over, then, he thought, unable to keep his eyes open He closed theh an endless void Did I do well, Father, or did I fail?

There was no answer And he joined with the void, tu into an endless sea of blackness

CHAPTER 1

Tears froes coend fades to ave it birth coe yet to co past, a wind rose around the alabaster spire known as the White Tower The as not the beginning There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Tinificent Tower, brushing perfectly fitted stones and flapping raceful and powerful at the same time; a metaphor, perhaps, for those who had inhabited it for over three thousand years Few looking upon the Toould guess that at its heart, it had been both broken and corrupted Separately

The wind blew, passing through a city that see was a ranite shopfronts had been crafted by ier hands to evoke wonder and beauty Here a do fro what appeared to be taves crashing together On one cobbled street, a pair of steep three-story buildings stood opposite one another, each crafted into the form of a --

reached with stone hands toward one another as if in greeting, hair billowing behind, immobile, yet carved with such delicacy that every strand see

The streets therand Oh, they had been laid out with care, radiating froht was die had caused And perhaps the crowding wasn’t the only reason for the disrepair The storefront signs and awnings hadn’t seen wash or polish in far too long Rotting garbage piled where it had been du away all others Dangerous toughs lounged on the street corners Once, they’d never have dared do that, and certainly not with such arrogance

Where was the White Tower, the law? Young fools laughed, saying that the city’s troubles were the fault of the siege, and that things would settle down once the rebels were quelled Older s had never been this bad, even when the savage Aiel had besieged Tar Valon so and old They had their own problems, mainly on Southharbor, where trade into the city by way of the river had nearly come to a halt Thick-chested workers toiled beneath the eyes of an Aes Sedai wearing a red-fringed shawl; she used the One Power to remove wards and weaken the stone, while the workmen broke the rock apart and hauled it away

The work burly ar at the ancient stones They dripped sweat onto rock or into the water below as they dug at the roots of the chain that blocked passage into the city by river Half of that chain was now indestructible cuendillar, called heartstone by soe into the city was an exhausting one; the harbor stoneworks--, shaped by the Power itself--were only one of the more visible casualties of the silent war between the rebel Aes Sedai and those who held the Tower

The wind blew through the harbor, where idling porters stood watching the workers chip the stones away, one by one, sending flakes of gray-white dust to float on the water Those with too much sense--or perhaps too little--whispered that such portents couldTar-

The wind danced away fro over the tall white bulwarks known as the Shining Walls Here, at least, one could find clean-liness and attention in the Tower Guard who stood watch, holding bows Clean-shaven, wearing white tabards free from stain or wear, the archers watched over their barricades with the dangerous readiness of snakes prepared to strike These soldiers had no intention of letting Tar Valon fall while they were on duty Tar Valon had repelled every enemy Trollocs had breached the walls, but been defeated in the city Artur Haing had failed to take Tar Valon Even the black-veiled Aiel, who had ravaged the land during the Aiel War, had never taken the city Many claireat victory Others wondered ould have happened if the Aiel had actually wanted to cross into the city