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"Poisoned?" he asked, glancing at the dead man "When he reached for my arm, it wasn’t a sient on it," Siuanhim help her sit down She tossed the pin aside and it suddenly burst into fla

Bryne ran a hand through his hair His broas damp "Did youHeal it?"

Siuan nodded "It was surprisingly easy; there was only a little in your system It would have killed you anyway You’ll have to thank Min next time you see her, Bryne She just saved both of our lives"

"But I wouldn’t have been poisoned if I hadn’t co or Foretelling like this," Siuan said, griest we leave it at that You feel good enough to keep going?"

"Does it o on withouta deep breath and clih, but he didn’t challenge her "These three soldiers of yours will survive the night I’ve done what I can for the out of the hole in the White Toatching fires burning below Figures moved about them, and one by one, the fires winked out Whoever had been running the resistance was quick-erous as the Seanchan But a few sisters weaving Air or Water couldthe Tower What was left of it

Egwene closed her eyes and lay back, resting against the frag the fresh breeze blow across her The Seanchan were gone, the last to’raken vanishing into the night That wene realized how hard she’d taxed herself and the poor novices she’d been drawing through She’d released theo directly to sleep The other wo on the fires on the upper levels

Eganted to help A part of her did, at least A sliver But Light, she was tired! She couldn’t channel another trickle, not even using the sa’angreal She’d pushed the lie But she was so worn out now that she wouldn’t be able to eht She’d been glorious and destructive, the Ament and fury, Green Ajah to the core And still, the Tower had burned And still, more to’raken had escaped than had fallen The count of wounded a Only three novices and one Aes Sedai dead, while they’d gathered ten damane and killed dozens of soldiers But what of the other floors? The White Toould not come out ahead in this battle

The White Toas broken, physically noell as spiritually They’d need a strong leader to rebuild The next few days would be pivotal It made her more than exhausted to consider the work she’d need to do

She had protected ht But this day would still reatest disasters in the history of the Aes Sedai

Can’t think of that, she told herself Have to focus on what to do to fix things

She would get up soon She would lead the novices and Aes Sedai on these upper floors as they cleaned up and assessed the da and capable The others would be tempted to fall into despair, and she needed to be positive For them

But she could take a few minutes She just needed to rest for a little while

She barely noticed when soh nu carried by Gawyn Trakand His forehead was smeared with crusty dried blood, but his face was deter down "I’ll protect you"

Oh, she thought, closing her eyes again Good Such a pleasant dreaht She wasn’t supposed to be leaving the Tower She tried to voice couts," she heard Siuan Sanche say "What did they do to her?"

"Is she wounded?" another voice Gareth Bryne

No, Egwene thought nuo 1 can’t leave Not now

"They just left her there, Siuan," Gawyn said His voice was so nice to hear "Defenseless in the hallway! Anyone could have come upon her like that What if the Seanchan had discovered her?"

I destroyed the away fro warrior, a hero called by the Horn They won’t dare facejostled by Gawyn’s steps kept her awake Barely

"Ho!" She distantly heard Siuan’s voice "What’s this? Light, Egwene! Where did you get this? This is the most powerful one in the Tower!"

"What is it, Siuan?" Bryne’s voice asked

"Our way out," Siuan said distantly Egwene sensed so "You asked about sneaking back out with all the activity in the courtyard? Well, with this, I’o collect those soldiers with the boats and hop back to cah her drowsiness, forcing her eyes open I’, don’t you see? If I offer leadership nohen the rubble is being cleared, they’ll see me as Amy rI in for certain! I have to stay! I have to--

Gawyn carried her through the gateway, leaving the hallways of the White Tower behind

Saerin finally let herself sit The gathering room that was her center of operations had also beco the wounded Yellow and Brown sisters moved down the lines of soldiers, servants, and other sisters, focusing on the worst cases first There were a frightful nu over twenty Aes Sedai so far But the Seanchan had withdrawn, as Saerin had predicted Thank the light for that

Saerin herself sat at the far northwestern corner of the roo, perched on a short stool and accepting reports as they caroaned and the room smelled of blood and of healall, which was used on those whose wounds didn’t de The rooht More and e and casualties Saerin didn’t want to read further, but it was better than listening to those groans Where under the Light was Elaida?

Nobody had seen anything of the A the battle, but much of the upper Tower had been cut off from the lower portions Hopefully, the A leadership in the crisis

Saerin accepted another report, then raised her eyebrows at what it said Only three novices in Egwene’s group of over sixty had died? And only one sister out of soathered? Ten Seanchan chan-nelers captured, over thirty raken blown froht! That ht amateur by co to insist was simply a novice’?

"Saerin Sedai?" a man’s voice asked

"Hmm?" she asked, distracted

"You should hear what this Accepted has to say"

Saerin looked up, realizing that the voice belonged to Captain Chubain He had his hand on the shoulder of a young Arafellin Accepted with blue eyes and a plump round face What was her naed Her face sported a number of cuts and some scrapes that would likely bruise Her Accepted dress was ripped on the sleeve and shoulder

"Child?" Saerin asked, glancing at Chubain’s worried face What rong?