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Alh the trees rode a knot of men ore helmets, breast- and backplates, but no other arauntleted hand for the reins and a hand for the short bow they each carried left nothing to grasp at warht to left and right and behind, another thousand altogether, to scout and screen Gareth Bryne did not expect trickery fro before, so he said, and the Murandians were another matter And then there was the possibility of assassins in Elaida’s pay, or even Darkfriends The Light alone knehen a Darkfriend h the Shaido were supposedly far away, no one ever seean Even bandits ht have tried their hand with too small a party Lord Bryne was not a lad Today, she wanted as many witnesses as possible
She herself rode ahead of the banner, with Sheriaht in their own thoughts Lord Bryne sat his saddle easily, the uard, yet Egwene could see hiht over it Siuan rode so stiffly that she would be sore long before reaching their destination, but she stared north as though she could already see the lake, and sometimes she nodded to herself, or shook her head She would not have done that unless she was uneasy Sheriam knew no more of as to come than the Sitters did, yet she appeared evenconstantly in her saddle and grireen eyes, too, for some reason
Close behind the banner ca embroidered silks and rich velvets and furs and cloaks with the Flae on the back Wo were decked today in the finest gems the camp’s jewelry caskets could supply Their Warderstheir colorshifting cloaks; parts of thecloaks swirled in the stiff breeze Servants followed, two or three for every sister, on the best horses that could be found for theht have passed for lesser nobility the pack animals; every chest in the caht colors
Perhaps because she was one of the Sitters without a Warder, Delana had brought Hali, on a spirited white mare The two rode almost kneetoknee Sometih Halima appeared too excited to listen Supposedly, Halima was Delana’s secretary, but everyone believed it a case of charity, or possibly friendship, however unlikely, between the dignified, palehaired sister and the hotnatured, ravenhaired country wowene had seen Halima’s hand, and it had the unfor her letters Today, she was in garems that easily equaled Delana’s, who ust opened her velvet cloak, she displayed a shocking ahed and took her ti to admit that she felt the cold any lad of all the gifts of clothing she had been given, allowing her to surpass the Sitters Her greenandblue silk was slashed hite and worked with seed pearls Pearls even decorated the backs of her gloves At the last minute a cloak lined with ers of emeralds and white opals by Lelaine The moonstones in her hair came from Janya The Amyrlin had to be resplendent today Even Siuan appeared ready for a ball, in blue velvets and cream lace, with a wide band of pearls at her throat and h her hair
Ro so closely behind the soldier bearing the banner that he glanced over his shoulder nervously and sowene ed not to look back more than once or twice, yet she could feel their eyes pressing between her shoulder blades Each thought her tied in a neat bundle, but each had to be wondering whose cords had done the binding Oh, Light, this could not go wrong Not now
Other than the column, little ed haheeled overhead against the cold blue sky for a tiwene saw blacktailed foxes trotting in the distance, still in their suhosted away and vanished aht under Bela’s hooves and bounding off, rabbed at the reins as if she expected Bela to bolt Of course, Bela only gave a reproachful snort and plodded onward Egwene’s tall roan gelding shied ru under her breath after the hare scampered away, and it took quite so on a horse always ons whenever possible -- but she was seldom this bad There was no need to look further than Lord Bryne, or her fierce glances at hin The only one not in fine array, he looked as he always did, plain and slightly battered A rock that had weathered storas glad he had resisted their efforts to dress hiarb They truly did need to ht heto be in the saddle," Sheriaood ride in the snow to clear the head" Her voice was not low, and she cut her eyes at the still Siuan with a tiny s -- she hardly could do that in front of so ive Sheriam a hard look that promised sharp words for later The firehaired wo, her dappled gray mare, pranced a few steps, and Sheriam settled her doith alratitude to the woman who had named her Mistress of Novices, and like most in that position, she found reasons to blawene had found in her since the swearing Well, she had protested that, as Keeper, she should not have to take orders frowene had seen right ahere that would lead This was not the first time Sheria Sheriawene to deny the request unles