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Mat hurried on, pushing his way out into the shaded noon, though he did catch a gliood drah the pine trees he could see that the sky was cloudy Again When was that going to end? Mat shook his head as he walked through caroups of soldiers who offered hi to "Lord Mat" The Band were staying here for the day-- camped on a secluded, wooded hillside a half-day march from the tohile they made final preparations for the assault The three-needle pines here were tall, and their li underbrush to a roups around the pines, and the air was cool and shaded, s into the workings of hishandled efficiently Those old un to blend so evenly with his own that he could hardly tell which instincts ca the Band again; he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed them It would be nice to reunite with the rest of the men, the troops led by Estean and Daerid Hopefully, they’d had an easier time of it than Mat’s force had
The cavalry banners came first in his rounds They were separate from the rest of the camp--horsemen always considered themselves superior to foot Today, as all too often, the ood cavalryman, his horse always came first Their trip from Hinderstap had been hard on the aniraze on Little was growing this spring, and the winter’s leavings were strangely sparse Horses would refuse patches of thatch, alone bad, like other food stores They didn’t have rain; they had hoped to live off the land, as they were ons
Well, he’d just have to find so to do about that Mat assured the cavalry on the problem, and they took him at his word Lord Mat hadn’t let the in their graves He denied a request to fly the banner Perhaps after the raid on Trustair
He didn’t have any true foot with him at the moment; they were all with Estean and Daerid Talmanes had wisely understood that they’d need ht the three banners of horse and nearly four thousand mounted crossbow to watch a couple of squads drilling in firing ranks at the back of the caood two feet above his head, leaning against the trunk The line of crossboeren’t practicing their aim so much as their coordination You didn’t really aim in most battles, which hy the crossboorked so well They required a tenth the training of a longbow Sure, the latter could fire faster and farther, but if you didn’t have a lifeti, then these crossboere a fine substitute
Besides, the crossbow reloading process ether The squad’s captain stood on the far side, slapping a rod against the side of a tree once every two seconds to give a beat Each crack of the as an order Raise crossbows to the shoulder on the first Fire on the second Lower on the third Crank on the fourth Up to the shoulder again on the fifth Thein coordinated wavesEach fourth crack let loose a wave of bolts into the trees
We’ll needhowshots You wasted , but each bolt now could be worth two or three in coood indeed If he’d had a few banners worth of these when he’d fought at Bioodwash Falls, perhaps Nashif would have learned his lesson a lot sooner
Of course, they’d bewas the slow point Not the turn of the crank itself, but the necessity of lowering the crossbow each time It cost four seconds just to move the weapon about These new cranks and boxes that Talmanes had learned to reatly But the mechanic had been on his way to sell the cranks in Cae the way? Before too long, everyone ated if both you and your eneiven a lot to Mat’s success in Altara against the Seanchan He was loath to surrender the advantage Could he find a way to htful, he checked on a few s in the camp--the Al-tarans they’d recruited into the Band were settling in well, and other than feed for the horses and perhaps crossbow bolts, supplies looked good Satisfied, he went looking for Aludra
She had established herself near the back of the cah this spot was lade of trees the Aes Sedai and their attendants used, it was noticeably more secluded Mat had to weave around three separate cloth sheets hanging between trees--placed carefully to block any view into Aludra’s workspace--before he reached her And he had to stop when Bayle Doave leave for him to enter
The slender, dark-haired Illuminator sat on a stump in the center of her little ca board for notes and tools neatly arranged on strips of cloth on the ground around her She no longer wore her braids, and her long hair fell loose around her shoulders That h
Burn it, Mat You’re eanin was there, holding a nightflower shell upright for Aludra to work on Aludra’s full-lipped face frowned in concentration as she tapped lightly on the shell Egeanin’s dark hair was growing out,her look less and less like one of the Seanchan nobility Mat still had trouble trying to decide what to call the woht of her like that It was foolish to go about changing your name just because someone said you had to, but he didn’t really bla to rile Tuon She was a bloody stubborn one, Tuon was He found hiht himself Blood and ashes! She’d be just fine
Anyway, Tuon was gone now So why did Egeanin continue the charade of calling herself Leilwin? Mat had actually called her by her old name once or twice after Tuon’s departure, but had received a curt reprimand Women! They lanced at Bayle Doainst a tree near the entrance to Aludra’s ca in either direction near hi hand As if this entire camp weren’t Mat’s in the first place!
Mat didn’t push his way past, though He couldn’t afford to offend Aludra She was flans of hers, and he ht, if it didn’t smart to have to pass a checkpoint in his own ca a stray lock of hair behind her ear She noted Mat, then looked back to her nightflower and began tapping with the ha that reminded him why he visited Aludra so infrequently The checkpoint was bad enough, but did the wo explosive with a hammer? Had she no sense at all? The entire lot of Illuh Short a few foals of a full herd, as Mat’s father ht say
"He may enter," Aludra said "Thank you, Master Domon"
"It do be a pleasure, Mistress Aludra," Bayle said, lowering his hand and nodding ahtened his coat and walked forward, intent on asking about crossbows Soht his eye, however Spread out on the ground behind Aludra were a series of neat pages with detailed drawings, along with a list of notations with nuons?" Mat asked eagerly He knelt down on one knee to inspect the sheets, without touching the
"Yes" She was still tapping with her ha just faintly uncoures?" Mat tried to ignore the aardness
"Supply requirements," she said She put down her hahtflower from all sides She nodded to Leilwin
Bloody ashes, but the figures were large! A uano? The notes clai it over in the northern reaches of the Mountains of Mist What city specialized in gathering bat guano, of all things? There were requireh for some reason there were no numbers beside those Just a little star notation
Mat shook his head Hoould the cohtfloere just a paper, powder and--of all things--bat dung? No wonder Illuminators were so secretive with their craft It wasn’t just about preventing competition The more you knew about the process, the less wondrous and more ordinary it became
"This is a lot of material," Mat said
"A miracle, that is what you asked htflower to Leilwin and picking up her writing board She made some notations on the sheet strapped to the front "That redients A feat which is in itself miraculous, yes? Do not complain of the heat when someone offers you the sun in the paleable to ure the costs?"
"I am not a scribe," Aludra said "Those are estimates only The calculations, I have taken theured by those on Reborn, he can afford such costs" Leilatched Mat with a curious expression Things had changed with her, too, because of Tuon But not in the way he’d expected
Mention of Rand brought the colors swirling into Mat’s vision, and he suppressed a sigh as he shook thee costs like these, but Mat certainly couldn’t Why, he’d have to dice with the queen of Andor herself to find this kind of coin!