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But that ic Faile steeled herself to keep her eyes fro up like Lacile’s She hadn’t loved Rolan, and she was glad that Perrin was the one who had survived the conflict But Rolan had been an honorable man, and she feltdirtied, somehow, that his death had been her fault

This shouldn’t have had to be But it was Her father had often spoken of situations like this, when you had to kill people you liked just because youside of the battlefield She’d never understood If she had to go back and do it again, she would take the very same actions She wouldn’t be able to risk Perrin Rolan had had to die

But the world seemed a sadder place to her for the necessity of it

Lacile turned away, sniffling softly Faile knelt, taking a small flask of oil from the bundle Chiad had left She took the leather strap and pulled off the stone, then set the strap in the center of the cloth bundle She poured the oil on it, then used a tinder stick, lit at the lantern, to set the strap afire

She watched it burn, tiny little fla leather was shockingly siht was still, no wind to shake the flames, and so they danced freely

Alliandre doused the belt and put it on to the miniature fire Arrela did the same with the veil Finally, Lacile added the handkerchief She was still crying

This was all they could do There hadn’t been a way to see to the bodies in the chaos of leaving Maiden Chiad had said there was no dishonor in leaving the So Rolan and the others

"Dead by our hand," Faile said, "or simply dead from battle, these four showed us honor As the Aiel would say, we have great toh to them I don’t think it can be repaid But we can remember them The Brother-less and one Maiden showed us kindness when they didn’t need to They kept their honor when others had abandoned it If there is a redemption to be found for them, and for us, this will be it"

"There’s a Brotherless in Perrin’s ca the flaai’shain to Sulin, the Maiden I went to tell him of what the others did for us He is a kind man"

Faile closed her eyes Lacile probably en That wasn’t forbidden of gai’shain "You can’t replace Jhoradin like that," she said, opening her eyes "Or undo what you did"

"I know," Lacile said defensively "But they were so full of hu about them Jhoradin wanted to take me back to the Three-fold Land, make ht / know you wouldn’t have But now that he’s dead, you realize the opportunity you lost

Well, as she to chastise? Let Lacile do as she wished If this Niagen was half the man that Rolan or the others had been, then perhaps Lacile would do ith hi out for me," Alliandre said "I knohat he wished for, but he never de to leave the Shaido, and would have helped us escape Even if I turned him down, he would have helped us"

"Marthea hated what the other Shaido did," Arrela said "But she stayed with them for her clan She died for that loyalty There are worse things to die for"

Faile watched the last embers of the miniature pyre flicker out "I think Rolan actually loved me," she said And that was all

The four rose and returned to the camp The past was a field of embers and ash, an old Saldaean proverb said, the remnants of the fire that was the present Those embers bleay behind her But she kept Rolan’s turquoise stone Not for regret, but for re the canvas of his tent and the unique scent of Faile She wasn’t there, though she had been recently He’d dozed off, and now she was gone Perhaps to the privy

He stared up in the darkness, trying to ht about it, the rew He would march to the Last Battle--and when he did, he wanted to be able to control the wolf inside of him He wanted either to be free of all of these people who followed him, or to learn how to accept their loyalty

He had some decisions to make They wouldn’t be easy, but he’d s That was the way of life That hat had gone wrong with the way he’d handled Faile’s capture Instead ofdecisions, he’d avoided them Master Luhhan would have been disappointed in him

And that led Perrin to another decision, the hardest of all He was going to have to let Faile ride into danger, perhaps risk her again Was that a decision? Could he er

Three problems He would face them and he would decide But he would consider them first, because that hat he did Afirst

But the decision to face his probleht him a measure of peace, and he rolled over and drifted back to sleep

CHAPTER 22

The Last That Could Be Done

See sat alone in the siven her no lantern or candle Blast this cursed Age and its cursed people! What she would have given for glowbulbs on the walls During her days, prisoners hadn’t been denied light Of course, she had locked several of her experiments away in total darkness, but that was different It had been iht would have on them These so-called Aes Sedai who held her, they had no rational reason for leaving her in darkness They just did it to huainst the wooden wall She did not cry She was of the Chosen! So what if she had been forced to abase herself? She was not broken

Butthe fool Aes Sedai no longer regarded her as they had Seed, but they had Somehow, in one swoop, that cursed woe’s authority with the entire lot of them