Page 48 (1/2)

"Reasoning with a woman is impossible," Mat continued, eyes forward "It’s likeWell, reasoning with a woae the basic bloody rules of the game A man, he’ll cheat you--but he’ll do it honestly

He’ll use loaded dice, so that you think you’re losing by chance And if you aren’t clever enough to spot what he’s doing, then maybe he deserves to take your coin And that’s that

"A woa to play Only when it’s her turn to throw, she’ll toss a pair of her own dice that are blank on all six sides Not a single pip showing She’ll inspect her throw, then she’ll look up at you and say, ’Clearly I just won’

"Now, you’ll scratch your head and look at the dice Then you’ll look up at her, then down at the dice again ’But there aren’t any pips on these dice,’ you’ll say

" ’Yes there are,’ she’ll say ’And both dice rolled a one’

" ’That’s exactly the number you need to win,’ you’ll say

" ’What a coincidence,’ she’ll reply, then begin to scoop up your coins And you’ll sit there, trying to wrap your head bout what just happened And you’ll realize so throw! Not when you threw a six on your turn That means she needed a pair of twos instead! Excitedly, you’ll explain what you’ve discovered Only then, do you knohat she’ll do?"

"No idea, Mat," Tal on his pipe, a thin wisp of s out of the bowl

"Then she’ll reach over," Mat said, "and rub the blank faces of her dice And then, with a perfectly straight face, she’ll say, ’I’m sorry There was a spot of dirt on the dice Clearly you can see that they actually came up as twos!’ And she’ll believe it She’ll bloody believe it!"

"Incredible," Talmanes said

"Only that’s not the end of it!"

"I had presumed that it wouldn’t be, Mat"

"She scoops up all of your coins," Mat said, gesturing with one hand, the other steadying his ashandarei across his saddle "And then every other woratulate her on throwing that pair of twos! The more you coument You’ll be outnumbered in a moment, and each of those women will explain to you how those dice clearly read twos, and how you really need to stop behaving like a child Every single fla one of them will see the twos! Even the prudish woman who has hated your woranny stole the other woranny’s honeycake recipe when they were both ainst you"

"They are nefarious creatures indeed," Talmanes said, voice flat and even Talmanes rarely smiled

"By the time they’re done," Mat continued, almost more to himself, "you’ll be left with no coin, several lists’ worth of errands to run and what clothing to wear and a splitting headache You’ll sit there and stare at the table and begin to wonder, just maybe, if those dice didn’t read twos after all If only to preserve what’s left of your sanity That’s what it’s like to reason with a woth,"

"You aren’tsport of me, are you?"

"Why, Mat!" the Cairhienin said "You know I’d never do such a thing"

"Too bad," Mat h" He looked over his shoulder "Vanin! Where on the Dark One’s blistered backside are we?"

The fat former horsethief looked up He rode a short distance behind Mat, and he carried a map of the area unrolled and folded across a board so he could read it in the saddle He’d been poring over the bloody thing the better half of the h Murandy quietly, not get them lost in the mountains for esturing with a pudgy finger toward a flat-topped mountain just barely visible over the tips of the pines "At least, I think it is It ht be Mount Sardlen"

The squat hill didn’t look like much of a mountain; it barely had any snow atop it Of course, few "mountains" in this area were impressive, not compared to the Mountains of Mist, back near the Two Rivers Here, northeast of the Da of low foothills It was difficult terrain, but navigable, if one were determined And Mat was deterain, determined not to be seen by any who didn’t have to knoas there He’d paid the butcher tooPips back to ride beside Vanin, "which of those ain"

The ed to the master mapmaker; it was only because of his presence that they’d been able to find this roadway in the first place But Vanin insisted on being the one to guide the troop--aas a scout You didn’t have a dusty cartographer ride out and lead the way for you, Vanin insisted

In truth, Master Roidelle didn’t have a lot of experience being a guide He was a scholar, an academic He could explain a map for you perfectly, but he had assense of where they were, since this roadas so disjointed and broken, the pines high enough to obscure landmarks, the hilltops all nearly identical

Of course, there was also the fact that Vanin seemed threatened by the presence of theunseated fro Mat and the Band Mat had never expected such an eht have been enough to make hi time

Vanin scowled "I think that has to be Mount Sardlen Yes It’s got to be"

"Whichthe roadway," Vanin said "The sao We can’t bloody h a forest this thick, now can we? That ," Mat said, pulling down the briot to ask things like this"

"I should ride ahead," Vanin said, scowling again He was fond of scowls "If that is Mount Sardlen, there should be a village of fair size an hour or two further along I ht be able to spot it from the next rise"