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Those Shaido behind had him anxious They could decide to attack at any tiet away and remove the temptation

Aravine curtsied and hurried away to ht for souess hi on After that, he stood up, wiping his hands on his trousers "Next!" he said

Nobody stepped forward The only people reoneers waiting to hitch up their oxen and e pile of foodstuffs and supplies in the middle of the foranize it

Perrin sent the ring of attendants with hi to do

Just what he’d wanted to avoid

The wind blew past again, carrying that awful stench of death It also carried memories The fury of the battle, the passion and thrill of each swing Aiel were excellent warriors--the best the land knew Each exchange had been close, and Perrin had earned his share of cuts and bruises, though those had since been Healed

Fighting the Aiel had made him feel alive Each one he’d slain had been an expert with the spears; each one could have killed hi, he’d felt a driving passion The passion of finally doing so, each blow hadNo one

He felt hollow It was likelike the tiift for Winternight Perrin had waited ift When he’d finally received the small wooden horse, he’d been excited for a ly ift, but because there had no longer been anything to strive for The exciteone, and only then had he realized how ift itself

Soon after that he’d begun visiting Master Luhhan’s forge, eventually becolad to have Faile back He rejoiced And yet, noas there for hiht of hi! He’d never asked for that He’d had them put away the banners every time they put the thee He still didn’t believe that the wolfhead banner belonged there, flapping insolently above his camp

But could he take it down? The men did look to it He could smell pride on them every time they passed it He couldn’t turn them away Rand would need their aid--he’d need everyone’s aid--at the Last Battle

The Last Battle Could a e, lead these forces to the most i hi in what appeared to be a stone Tairen home Perrin’s old friend had a dark cast to his expression, like alike that, Rand looked regal He hat a king was supposed to be, with that rich red coat, that noble bearing Perrin was just a blackse He needed to seek out Rand He could feel so him

Rand needed him That had to be his focus now

CHAPTER 10

The Last of the Tabac

Rodel Ituralde puffed quietly on his pipe, s from it like the sinuous coils of a snake The s at the ceiling above hih cracks in the roof of the rae, opening slits to the outside, and the gray as cracked and splintering A brazier burned in the corner and winds whistled through the cracks in the walls Ituralde faintly worried those winds would blow over the entire building

He sat on a stool, several maps on the table before hihed dorinkled piece of paper The s carried in his inside coat pocket

"Well?" Rajabi asked Thick of neck and determined of attitude, he was brown-eyed, with a wide nose and a bulbous chin He was coe boulder He tended to act like a boulder, too It could take a lot of work to get hi, but once you did, he was bloody hard to stop He had been one of the first to join Ituralde’s cause, for all the fact that he had been poised to rebel against the king just a short time before

It had been nearly teeks since Ituraldes victory at Darluna He’d extended himself far for that victory Perhaps too far Ah, Alsalaht / hope this was all worth it, old friend I hope you haven’t just gone ht be a boulder, but the Seanchan are an avalanche, and we’ve brought the down upon us

"What now?" Rajabi prodded

"We wait," Ituralde said Light, but he hated waiting "Then we fight Or ain I haven’t made up my mind yet"

"The Taraboners--"

"Won’t come," Ituralde said

"They proone to theht the Seanchan just one more time They’d yelled and cheered, but had not folloith any haste They would drag their feet He’d gotten theht "one last time" on half a dozen different occasions now They could see where this as going, and he could no longer depend on them If he’d ever been able to in the first place