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"I have seen chests such as this, chests froh none so fine They are meant to be opened only by those who know the pattern, but I -- ah!" He pressed a the ornate whorls and bosses, there was a sharp click, and he lifted back the lid A flicker of what ht have been disappointment passed across his face

Fain bit the inside of hisIt lessened his bargaining position that he was not the one who had opened the chest Still, all the rest could go as he had planned if he could only

"These are treasure fro out the curled Horn in one hand and the curved dagger with the ruby in its golden hilt in the other Fain clutched his hands in fists at his sides so he would not grab the dagger "The Age of Legends," Turak repeated softly, tracing the silver script inlaid around the golden bell of the Horn with the tip of the dagger’s blade His brows rose in startlement, the first open expression Fain had seen from him, but in the next instant Turak’s face was as smooth as ever "Do you have any idea what this is?"

"The Horn of Valere, High Lord," Fain said smoothly, pleased to see the mouth of the man with the braid drop open Turak only nodded as if to hih Lord turned away Fain blinked and opened his esture fro

It was another roo screens and a single chair facing a tall round cabinet Still holding the Horn and the dagger, Turak looked at the cabinet, then away He said nothing, but the other Seanchan snapped quick orders, and in h a door behind the screens bearing another s woman with hair so pale it was almost white came behind them, her arms full of small stands of polished wood in various sizes and shapes Her garment hite silk, and so thin that Fain could see her body clearly through it, but he had eyes only for the dagger The Horn was a er was a part of hiirl held, and she placed it on the center of the table The men turned the chair to face it under the direction of theto their shoulders They scurried out with bows that al the Horn on the stand so that it stood upright, Turak laid the dagger on the table in front of it and went to sit in the chair

Fain could stand it no longer He reached for the dagger

The yellowhaired ! Know that the hand that touches the property of the High Lord unbidden is cut off"

"It isback in the chair, lifted one bluelacquered fingernail, and Fain was pulled out of the way so the High Lord could view the Horn unobstructed

"Yours?" Turak said "Inside a chest you could not open? If you interest er Even if it is froends, I have no interest in such as that Before all else, you will answer ht the Horn of Valere to ly a moment more, then jerked his wrist free and rubbed it as he bowed "That you h Lord Then you may take all of this land, if you wish All of the world You rind the Aes Sedai to dust, for even their powers cannot stop heroes come back from the dead"

"I am to sound it" Turak’s tone was flat "And break the White Tower Again, why? You claim to obey, await, and serve, but this is a land of oathbreakers Why do you give your land to me? Do you have some private quarrel with these wo Patient, like a worh Lord, eneration We served the High King, Artur Paendrag Tanreall, and when he was murdered by the witches of Tar Valon, we did not abandon our oaths When others warred and tore apart what Artur Haing had , and suffered for it, but held to it still This is our tradition, High Lord, handed father to son, andwas murdered That ait the return of the ar sent across the Aryth Ocean, that ait the return of Artur Haing’s blood to destroy the White Tower and take back as the High King’s And when the Haing’s blood returns, ill serve and advise, as we did for the High King High Lord, except for its border, the banner that flies over this roof is the banner of Luthair, the son Artur Paendrag Tanreall sent with his ar a good ih Lord, I wish only to serve and advise the blood of the High King"

Turak was silent so long that Fain began to wonder if he needed further convincing; he was ready with h Lord spoke "You seeh nor the low, has spoken since sighting this land The people here speak it as one ru ten, but you know I can see it in your eyes, hear it in your voice I could allethe Horn of Valere, would use it so? None of those of the Blood who caend says it was hidden in this land And surely any lord of this land would use it against me rather than put it in my hands How did you come to possess the Horn of Valere? Do you claiend? Have you done valorous deeds?"

"I a so "The Horn was found by an ancestor of ’s death He kne to open the chest, but that secret died with hi’s empire, so that all ho followed him kneas that the Horn lay within and we ’s blood returned"

"Alh Lord Once you sound the Horn -- "

"Do not ruin what convincing you have ed to do I shall not sound the Horn of Valere When I return to Seanchan, I shall present it to the Empress as the chiefest of my trophies Perhaps the Empress wil