Page 107 (2/2)

"And what of the White Tower?" Lelaine said

"Once we have cleansed ourselves," Egwene said, "then we can do what must be done to reunify the Aes Sedai"

"You in an assault on Tar Valon by this evening Pass the word and tell Lord Bryne to prepare hisus, and will "

Ro in the air at the side of the tent, both weeping openly, s of Air "It must be done I put forth a ested"

The tent grew still Then, slowly, each woht preserve us," Lelaine whispered "And forgive us for e are about to do"

My thoughts exactly, Egwene added

CHAPTER 44

Scents Unknown

Tarwin’s Gap is the place that ued She and Rand rode on an overgrown road in the open grassland of Maredo, accompanied by a crowd of Aiel Nynaeve was the only Aes Sedai there; Narish sullen Rand had forced their Aes Sedai to stay behind He seemed particularly determined to assert his independence from them, lately

Nynaeve was astride a pure white ht, appropriated from Rand’s stable in Tear It still seemed odd that he would have his own stable at all, let alone one in each of the major cities of the world

"Tarwin’s Gap," Rand said, shaking his head "No The more I think about it, the ht there Lan is doing side his own, I can gain great advantage But I don’t want to distract my armies with the Gap It would be a waste of resources"

A waste of resources? The Gap here Lan was heading, like an arrow loosed fro there to die! And Rand said helping was a waste? Wool-headed fool!

Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to cal in that distant way he had recently adopted

He seeet free and roar at her It was coiled inside him, and if he didn’t let his emotions out soon, they would devour him from the inside

But how to ument--each of the their ti the last two days y for the Last Battle

Each day brought Lan one step closer to a fight he couldn’t win Each day made her more anxious; several times, she’d nearly abandoned Rand and ridden for the north If Lan was going to fight an ied to be at his side But she stayed Light take Rand al’Thor, she stayed What good would it do to help Lan, only to let the world fall into Shadow because of a stubborn sheepherder’s stubbornstubbornnessl

She gave her braid a solid yank The jeweled bracelets and rings on her hands glittered in the faint sunlight--the sky was cloudy, of course, just as it had been for weeks Everyone tried to ignore how unnatural that was, but Nynaeve could still feel that stor to the north

Such a short tiht send that he was slowed down by the Malkieri who had coht send that he was not alone Thinking of hi the army of Shadoho infested his homeland

"We have to attack there," Nynaeve said "Ituralde says that the Blight is swar his forces You can bet that the bulk of theh and strike at Andor and Cairhien!"

"That is exactly ill not attack at the Gap, Nynaeve," Rand said, voice cold and even "We cannot let the ene ant to do is fight where they want us to, or where they expect us to" He turned eyes northward "Yes, let theather They seek ht at Tarwin’s Gap? It ht to Shayol Ghul"

"Rand," she said, trying to sound reasonable Couldn’t he see that she was reasonable? "There is no way that Lan has been able to gather a large enough force to hold back a mass assault by the Trollocs, particularly not with ht only knohat down here He’ll be overrun, and the Trollocs will invade!"

Mention of the Borderlanders hten; they rode to ers "The Tfollocs will invade," Rand repeated

"Yes!"

"Good," Rand said "It will keep them occupied as I do what needs to be done"

"And Lan?" Nynaeve asked

"His attack will be well placed" Rand nodded "He will draw my enemies’ attention to Malkier and the Gap, and it will make theateways, so they can’t ed Lan, I’ll be past the directly at the Dark One’s heart

"I don’t plan to abandon the southern lands, not at all When the Trollocs punch through the Gap, they will break up into fists to invade That’s when ateway to strike at each group of Trollocs from the sides or behind That e can pick the best battlefields to suit our needs"

"Rand," Nynaeve said, her anger fading to horror "Lan will die!"

"Then who am I to deny him that?" Rand said "We all deserve the chance to find peace"

Nynaeve found heropen He actually believed that! Or he was convincing himself to believe it, at least

"My duty is to kill The Dark One," Rand said, as if to himself "I kill hih, Nynaeve" Rand spoke softly in that dangerous voice of his He would not be pressed further

Nynaeve sat back, stewing, trying to decide how to press hiht! He would leave the people of the Borderlands to suffer and die in the Trolloc invasions? The people there wouldn’t care if the Dark One had been defeated--they would be cooking in stewpots That would leave Lan and the Malkieri to fight alone, a tiny force to resist the ht could spit out

The Seanchan would wage their war to the south and the west The Trollocs would attack from the north and the east The tould doround, the people there--good people, like those in the Two Rivers--would have no chance against such warfar