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"My Lord Dragon," Weiraorin to finish The man always intoned, and even on horseback he seemed to strut His worked velvets and striped silks and falls of lace alave off a flowery scent of perfuon personally Set dogs to catch dogs, I say Let the Illianers root the so far to serve you but talk" Trust hiorin into an insult Tolh to h to diarb; he was no fool, and rival to Weirareement No love lost there for Illianers, at all
Semaradrid curled a lip at the Tairens but addressed hiathering is ten tion" He cared nothing for the King of Illian, and little enough for the Dragon Reborn, except that the throne of Cairhien was Rand’s to give, and Seiven to one he could follow instead of fight "Their loyalties ether I fear talking to the their position openly with steel so they know the price of putting a foot out of line"
Rosana glared right back at Semaradrid, a lean woman, not tall yet nearly as tall as he, with eyes like blue ice She did not wait for him to finish, either, and she, too, spoke to Rand "I’ve come too far and invested too ," she said bluntly No more a fool than Tolh Lords, though Tairen High Ladies seldom did, and blunt was the word for her Despite the armor most of the noblewomen wore, none actually led their ared ht she would like a chance to use it "I doubt those Illianers lack for bows," she said, "and it takes only one arrow to kill even the Dragon Reborn" Pursing his lips thoughtfully, Marcolin nodded before catching hied startled looks with Rosana, each more surprised than the other to find themselves of like mind with an ancient enemy
"These peasants could never have found the e Rosana He was skilled at ignoring who, and what, he did not want to see or hear He was a fool "May I suggest on look to these socalled Nine for the source?"
"I do protest this Tairen pig’s insults, Majesty!" Gregorin growled right atop hi to his sword "I do protest most heartily!"
"There are too many this tiainst you as soon as your back is to theht have been speaking of the Tairens as well as the men on the wooded hills Perhaps he was "Better to kill them and be done!"
"Did I ask for opinions?" Rand snapped harshly Babble became silence, except for the crack of cloaks and banners flapping in the wind Suddenly expressionless faces regarded hiray They did not know he held the Power, but they knew him Not all of what they kneas truth, but it was just as well they believed "You will coorin," he said in a h Steel was all they understood; go soft, and they would turn on him "And you, Marcolin The rest stay here Dashiva! Hopwil!"
Everyone not named reined their horses back hurriedly as the two Asha’man rode to join Rand, and the Illianers eyed the blackcoated h they would have liked to re else, Corlan Dashiva was glowering andunder his breath as he so often did Everyone are that saidin drove men mad sooner or later, and plainfaced Dashiva certainly looked the part, lank untri his head For that matter, Eben Hopwil, just sixteen and still with a few scattered blotches on his cheeks, wore a staring frown that gazed beyond anything in sight At least Rand knew the why of that
As the Asha’ his head to listen, though what he listened for was inside his head Alanna was there, of course; neither the Void nor the Power altered that a whisker Distance wore that awareness down to just that -- awareness that she existed, sohe had felt several tie of notice A whisper of shock, perhaps, or outrage, a breath of sorasp She ly for him to be even that conscious of it at this distance Maybe she wasAlanna was easier than it had been once She was there, but not the voice that used to shout of death and killing whenever an Asha’one Unless that feel of so his shoulder blades with a finger, was hihts? Or was it his own? The man had been there! He had!
He beca very hard not to "Not yet," he told theht away Relief was too plain on their faces for anything else He was not insane Yet "Come," he told them, and started Tai’daishar down the slope at a trot Despite the , he felt alone Despite the Power, he felt ee and the hills lay patches of thick scrub and long stretches of dead grass, a glistening mat of brown and yellow beaten flat by the rain Only a few days ago the ground had been so parched that he had thought it could drink a river without changing Then the torrents ca mercy at last, or maybe by the Dark One in a fit of black humor; he did not knohich Now the horses’ hooves splashedHe had some time, by what Hopwil had reported, but not forever Perhaps weeks, if he was lucky He needed ht, he needed years he would never have!
His hearing heightened by the Power, he could orin and Marcolin rode kneetoknee, trying to hold their cloaks against the wind and speaking in low tones about the ht Neither doubted they would be crushed if they resisted, but they feared the effect on Rand, and his on Illian, if Illianers fought hi theive Brend his true name, Sammael The very notion that one of the Forsaken had ruled in Illian frightened the