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He looked at her, challenging Ramshalan and the other attendants backed away quietly, not wanting to be caught between his gaze and Nynaeve

She was silent, although her face took on a profound sadness "Oh, Rand," she finally said "You can’t go on like this This hardness within you, it will break you"

"I do what Iinto him Would he never hear the end of complaints about his choices?

"This isn’t what youto destroy yourself You’ll--"

Rand’s anger surged He spun, pointing at her "Would you end up exiled like Cadsuane, Nynaeve?" he bellowed "I will not be played with! I am done with that Give advice when it is asked for, and the rest of the tiritted his teeth, forcing the anger back down His lowered his hand, but realized it had begun to reach reflex-ively for the access key in the pocket at his side Nynaeve’s eyes fixed on it, opening wide, and he slowly forced his hand away froht his tely difficult ti open the door, his Maidens following him "I will have no more audiences today," he told the attendants who tried to follow him "Go and do as I have told you! I need the other members of the merchant council Go!"

They scattered Only the Aiel re him as he made his way to the rooer He only had to keep things balanced a short tiinning to look forward to that end as much as Lews Therin did

You promised we could die, Lews Therin said between distant sobs

/ did, Rand said And ill

CHAPTER 32

Rivers of Shadow

Nynaeve stood on the broad wall around Bandar Eban, looking down over the darkened city The as on the inland side of the city, but Bandar Eban was built on a slope, so she could see out over it, past the city, toward the ocean beyond The night fog rolled in across the waters, hanging above a crisp black h above Those clouds gloith a phanto did not reach the city; it rarely did It hung over the ocean, churning Like the ghost of a forest fire, stopped by some unseen barrier

She could still feel the storh the streets, shouting warning Flee to the cellars! Store up food, for a disaster will strike! Unfortunately, packing earth or reinforcing walls would not help against this te was often herald to winds, and this night was no exception She pulled her shawl close, s brine on the air It mixed with the inevitable scents of an overcrowded city Refuse, packed bodies, soot and smoke from fires and stoves She missed the Two Rivers The winds there were cold in the winters, but they were always fresh Bandar Eban’s winds always felt slightly used

There would never again be a place for her in the Two Rivers She knew this, though it hurt her She was Aes Sedai now; it had beco Wisdom had once been With the One Power, she could Heal people in a way that still seemed a marvel And with the authority of the White Tower behind her, she was one of the most powerful individuals in the world, matched only by other sisters and the occasional ard to ht not have a kingdo To her, if nobody else Life in the Two Rivers would not suit him And, truthfully, it wouldn’t suit her either That siine-- would now see

Still, it was difficult not to feel wistful, particularly atching the night fogs

"There," Merise said, voice edged with tension She, along with Cadsuane and Corele, stood looking in the other direction--not southwest over the city and ocean, but east Nynaeve had alroup, as she had little doubt that Cadsuane partly bla the apparitions had been too enticing

Nynaeve turned fro the others Corele glanced at her, but Merise and Cadsuane ignored her That suited Nynaeve Though it did continue to irk her that Corele--of the Yellow Ajah--was so guarded in her acceptance of Nynaeve Corele was pleasant, consoling, yet sternly unwilling to admit that Nynaeve was also a e ruts eventually, once Egwene secured the White Tower

Nynaeve peered through the crenellations atop the wall, scanning the dark landscape outside the city She could faintly ainst the walls until recently The dangers--soerated--in the countryside had caused ees to crowd into the city’s streets Dealing with theht with them, still demanded a lot of Rand’s time

Out beyond that trampled-down shantytown there were only shrubs, stunted trees, a shadowed bit of broken tion wheel The nearby fields were barren Plowed, seeded, yet still barren Light! Why didn’t crops grow anymore? Where would they find food this winter?

Anyway, that wasn’t what she was looking for at the moment What was it Merise had seen? Where--

Then Nynaeve saw it Like a wisp of the ocean fog, a tiny patch of glowing light was blowing across the ground It grew, bulging like a tiny storht not unlike that of the clouds above It resolved into the shape of a ures Within round,at a mournful pace