Page 25 (1/1)

A glance back showed the stout wo in her stirrups to peer past the Windfinders, until she saw Elayne looking and sat back down hurriedly Su than any sister except Nynaeve Perhaps more than Nynaeve Elayne simply pointed to the rear until Chilares colored and reined her mount around

Merilille joined Elayne only moments after Reanne left, and the Gray sister made a much better pretense at si, at least, she was poise itself What she had to say was another matter "I wonder how trustworthy those women are, Elayne" Her lips pursed in distaste as she brushed dust froloved hand "They say they do not take in wilders, but Reanne herselfher test for Accepted Suht frown for Kirstian, a dismissive shake of her head "You must have noticed how she leaps at any ht have picked up in conversation with so what she had to say; she really was very good "Have you considered that they s? They could be Darkfriends, for all we know, or dupes of Darkfriends Perhaps not, but they are hardly to be trusted very far I believe there is a farm, whether they really use it for a retreat or not, or I would not have agreed to this, but I will not be surprised to find a few ras and a dozen or so wilders Well, not ramshackle -- they do seem to have coin -- but the principle is the saan a slow burn as soon as she realized the direction Merilille was taking, and it grew hotter As this slipping around, all this "s she herself did not believe Darkfriends? The Knitting Circle had fought Darkfriends Two had died And without Suht be dead instead of Ispan a prisoner No, the reason they were not to be trusted was not because Merilille feared they were sworn to the Shadow, or she would have said so They were not to be trusted because if they were not trusted, then they could not be allowed to hold Ispan

She swatted a big green fly that had settled on Lioness’s neck, punctuating Merilille’s last ith a loud crack, and the Gray sister jerked in surprise "How dare you?" Elayne breathed "They faced Ispan and Falion in the Rahad, and the gholahs with swords You weren’t there" That was hardly fair Merilille and the rest had been left behind because Aes Sedai in the Rahad, obvious Aes Sedai, ht as well be trumpets and druer grew by the est such a thing to ain Never! Not without hard evidence! Not without proof! If you do, I’ll set you a penance that will h she stood above the other woman, she had no authority to set her any penance at all, but she did not care about that, either I’llbut bread and water the entire way! I’ll put you in their charge, and tell theoose!"

It dawned on her that she was shouting So past overhead in a broad band, and she was drowning out their cries Drawing a deep breath, she tried to cal; it always ca at her, ly Of course, she have done the saed a knife into Merilille’s heart Aviendha stood beside her friends no matter what Merilille’s Cairhienin paleness had become dead white

"I mean what I say," Elayne told her, in a much cooler tone It seemed to make even more blood leave Merilille’s face She did mean every word; they could not afford that sort of ru theh the Knitting Circle very likely would faint

She hoped that was the end of it It should have been But when Chilares left, Sareitha replaced her, and she too had a reason the Kinswoes Even Kirstian clai Aes Sedai, while Reanne was over a hundred years more than that and not even the oldest of the Kin Her title of Eldest went to the oldest of theid schedule they followed to avoid notice had a number of still older women off in other places It was obviously impossible, Sareitha maintained

Elayne did not shout; she very carefully did not shout "We will learn the truth eventually," she told Sareitha She did not doubt the Kinswomen’s word, but there had to be a reason why the Kinswoes they clai told her it was obvious, but nothing leaped up said what "Eventually," she added firh, Sareitha" Sareitha nodded uncertainly and fell back Not ten minutes later, Sibella replaced her

Every time one of the Kinswomen came to make her roundabout plea to be relieved of Ispan, one of the sisters came soon after to offer the same plea All save Merilille, who still blinked whenever Elayne looked at her Perhaps shouting did have its uses Certainly no one else tried to be so straightforward in attacking the Kin

For instance, Vandene began with discussing the Sea Folk and how to counter the effects of the bargain made with them, why it was necessary to counter them as much as possible She was quite esture to lay any blame Not that she needed any; the subject did that, however delicately handled The White Tower, she said, maintained its influence in the world not by force of arh those two she brushed past lightly Rather the White Tower controlled or influenced events to whatever extent they did because everyone saw the Tower as standing apart and above, as s or queens That in turn depended on every Aes Sedai being seen that way, as mysterious and apart, different from everyone else A different flesh Historically, Aes Sedai who could not e that -- and there were a feere kept out of public view as much as possible

It took Elayne a little while to realize that the thrust of the conversation had shifted away from the Sea Folk, and to see where it was headed A different flesh, mysterious and apart, could not have a sack thrust over its head and be tied across a saddle Not where anyone as not Aes Sedai could see, anyway In truth, the sisters would be rougher on Ispan than the Knitting Circle could possibly ht have borne ht had it co as quickly as she did anyone else And saw her replaced by Adeleas, right after Sibella was told that if none of the Knitting Circle could understand what Ispan was , then none of the sisters was likely to either Muht! The Aes Sedai took their repeated turns, and even knohat they were up to, sometimes it was hard to see the connection at first By the ti her that those boulders really had been toes once, supposedly on a statue of some warrior queen nearl