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It had been a struggle at first, waking eachto find himself not co and deht, to Shayol Ghul But bit by bit those rew shorter, untilHe re the spikes in, and he smiled; this time it did touch his eyes, with the joy of sweet ht his ear, and his smile faded I should never have let the Trollocs take so e to slow them down If those few houses at the ferry had not been deserted, perhapsBut Trollocs were greedy by nature, and in the euphoria of watching the Myrddraal die, he had not paid attention as he should

He glanced at the Trollocs Any one of theh to break hied back, still crouching "Kill the that remains -- for our friends to find Put the heads on top Neatly, now" He laughed, and cut it off short "Go!"

The Trollocs scra spiked axes In ers were bound Pleas for mercy and children’s screa noises, likebroken

Fain turned his back on the cacophony to look at his Darkfriends They were his, too, body and soul Such souls as they had left Every one of them was mired as deeply as he had been, before he found his way out Every one with nowhere to go except to follow hi "You think they will grow hungry again before we find another village or a far them have some more of you? Well, perhaps one or two There aren’t any more horses to spare"

"The others were only coed in an unsteady voice Dirt streaked her face above a finely cut dress that ood gray cloth, and a long tear marred her skirt "They were peasants We have served -- I have served -- "

Fain cut her off, his easy tonehis words all the harder "What are you, to me? Less than peasants Herd cattle for the Trollocs, perhaps? If you want to live, cattle, you must be useful"

The woman’s face broke She sobbed, and suddenly all the rest were babbling, telling him how useful they were, men and women who had had influence and position before they were called to fulfill their oaths at Fal Dara They spilled out the names of important, powerful people whom they knew in the Borderlands, in Cairhien, and other lands They babbled of the knowledge they alone had of this land or that, of political situations, alliances, intrigues, all the things they could tell him if he let them serve him The noise of thehter and fit right in

Fain ignored all of it -- he had no fear of turning his back on them, not since they had seen the Fade dealt with -- and went to his prize Kneeling, he ran his hands over the ornate, golden chest, feeling the power locked inside He had to have a Trolloc carry it -- he did not trust the huh to load it on a horse and packsaddle; soh to overco except killing -- and he had not yet puzzled out how to open it But that would co

Unsheathing the dagger, he laid it atop the chest before settling hiuard than Trolloc or human They had all seen what happened when he used it, once; none would come within a span of that bared blade without his co there in his blankets, he stared northward He could not feel al’Thor, now; the distance between the his vanishing trick Sometimes, in the keep, the boy had suddenly vanished from Fain’s senses He did not kno, but always al’Thor caone He would come back this time, too

"This time you co driven on the trail, but now you follow hter was a cackle that even he kneas mad, but he did not care Madness was a part of hiun yet We’ll dance on Toman Head, and I’ll be free of you I’ll see you dead at last"

Chapter 12

(Flawene hurried after Nynaeve toward the knot of Aes Sedai around the Amyrlin Seat’s horseborne palanquin, her desire to knohat had caused the tur even her worry over Rand He was beyond her reach, for the y mare, ith the Aes Sedai’s horses, and Nynaeve’s mount, too

The Warders, hands on sword hilts and eyes searching everywhere, made a steel circle around the Aes Sedai and the palanquin They were an island of relative calm in the courtyard, where Shienaran soldiers still ran awene pushed in beside Nynaeve -- the two of thelance fro with the Ah in the crowd’s ly frowene stopped, wideeyed, too shocked even to think that she was surrounded by Aes Sedai An atte of

The Amyrlin sat in her palanquin with the curtains drawn back, the bloodstained rip in her sleeve drawing all eyes, and faced down Lord Agelmar "You will find the bowman or you will not, ent as that of Ingtar on his quest I leave now"

"But, Mother," Agel We still do not knoho sent the man, or why An hour more, and I will have the bowh with no amusement in it "You’ll need slyer bait or finer nets to catch this fish, my son By the time you have theThere are too many ould cheer to see me dead for me to worry overmuch about this one Youat all" Her eyes traveled around the towers overlooking the courtyard, and the ramparts and archers’ balconies, still jah silent now The arrow had to have come from one of those places "I think this bowman is already