Page 118 (1/1)

It was hardly a group that could escape notice, so uards, not to mention twenty dark Windfinders, aard on their horses and as bright as exotically plunizably so to anyone who knehat to look for Though one did ride with a leather sack over her head, of course As if that would not attract eyes by itself Elayne had hoped to reach Caeer seemed possible Still, there was no reason that anyone would suspect that the DaughterHeir, Elayne Trakand herself, was one of this group In the beginning, she thought that the greatest difficulty theyof her presence, sending ar her into custody until the succession was settled

In truth, she expected the first trouble to come from the footsore craftswo dusty hills Especially since Merilille’sthem did not seem to mind too much, but nearly half their number omen who possessed lands and manors and palaces, and most of the rest could have afforded to buy an estate if not two or three They included two goldsmiths, three weavers ned over four hundred looms between them, a woman whose manufactories produced a tenth of all the lacquerware Ebou Dar produced, and a banker They walked, their possessions strapped to their backs, while their horses bore packsaddles laden with food There was real need Every last coin in everyone’s purse had been pooled together and given into Nynaeve’s tightfisted keeping, but all s for so large a party all the way to Caemlyn They did not seeh the first day’s march Loudest of all was a slim lady with a thin scar on one cheek, a sternfaced woht of a huge bundle containing a dozen or es that ith theht, with their cook fires glowing in the twilight and everyone full of beans and bread if not entirely satisfied with theathered the noblewomen around her, their silks more than travelstained The craftswomen joined in, too, and the banker, and the farmers stood close Before Malien could say a word, Reanne strode into the group Her face full of smile lines, in plain brooolens with her skirts sewn up on the left to expose bright layered petticoats, she o hoh voice, "you ret that we h You will be paid for theed If you choose to remain, please remember that the rules of the faraped Malien was not alone in opening her rily

Alise just seemed to appear at Reanne’s side, fists planted on her hips She was not s now "I said the last ten to be ready would do the washing up," she told theoldsht of the nobles They stood staring at her until she clapped her hands and said, "Don’t make me invoke the rule on failure to do your share of the chores"

Malien, wideeyed and athering dirty bowls, but the nextlacetrimmed silk dresses and shifts to be trampled on the hillside as they departed Elayne continued to expect an explosion, but Reanne kept a firm hand on thelared and rew on their clothes day by day, Reanne had only to speak a feords to send them to their work Alise only had to clap her hands

If the rest of the journey could have gone as s to join those wo Caemlyn, she knew that for a fact

Once they reached the first narrow dusty road, little an to appear, thatched stone houses and barns clinging to the hillsides or nestled in hollows From then on, whether the land was hilly or flat, forested or cleared, they rarely spent e At each of those, while the local folk goggled at the very strange strangers, Elayne tried to learn how much support House Trakand had, and what concerned the peopleher claih to stand, as ireat deal, if not alhat she wished to hear Andorans claiht to speak theirnoblewo coe called Damelien, where three mills sat beside a small river shrunken to leave their tall heels dry, the squarejawed innkeeper at The Golden Sheaves allowed as how he thought Morgase had been a good queen, the best that could be, the best that ever was "Her daughter ood ruler, too, I suppose," he on Reborn killed them I suppose he had to -- the Prophecies or some such -- but he had no call to dry up the rivers, now did he? How rain did you say your horses need, my lady? It’s dreadful dear,on her as if she had lost weight, surveyed a field surrounded by a low stone wall, where the hot wind sent sheets of dustinto the woods The other faron Reborn’s got no right to do this to us, now has he? I ask you!" She spat and frowned up at Elayne in her saddle "The throne? Oh, Dyelin’s as good as any, now Morgase and her girl are dead Some around here still speak up for Naean or Elenia, but I’ot crops to worry about If I ever make another crop"

"Oh, it’s true, narled old carpenter told her in Forel Market He was bald as a leather egg, his fingers twisted with age, but the work standing as and sawdust that littered his shop looked as fine as any Elayne had seen She was the only person in the shop besides hie, half the residents had left "The Dragon Reborn is having her brought to Caemlyn so he can put the Rose Crown on her head hiht, if you ask ht to march on Caemlyn and drive him and all them Aiel back where they come from Then Elayne can claim the throne her own self If Dyelin lets h