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"Are you sure I can’t carry sowene asked softly

"They’re just aard," Min said with a grin, "not heavy" She see to think so "And people would be sure to wonder why a fine lady such as yourself was carrying her own saddlebags You can carry yours -- and rin vanished, and she whispered fiercely, "Aes Sedai!"

Eghipped her eyes forward An Aes Sedai with long, s toward theh farm clothes and a patched cloak The Aes Sedai had not seen thenized her; Takiht the history of the White Tower and Aes Sedai, and who could recognize one of her pupils at a hundred paces

Nynaeve turned down a side hall without breaking stride, but there one of the Accepted, a lanky wo a redfaced novice by the ear

Egwene had to s before she could speak "That was Irella, and Else Did they notice us?" She could not make herself look back to see

"No," Min said after a , relieved breath, and heard one from Nynaeve, too

"My heart may burst before we reach the stables," Elayne wene? Your heart in your wene said slowly She found it hard to think that there had been a tier to have an adventure, to do so like the people in stories Now she thought the exciting part hat you reood deal of unpleasantness She told Elayne as hterHeir said firmly, "I have never had any real excite as Mother has any say in it, which she will until I take the throne myself"

"You two be quiet," Nynaeve said They were alone in the hall for a change, with no one in sight in either direction She pointed to a narrow flight of stairs going down "That should be ant If I haven’t gotten turned around completely, with all the twists and turns we’ve made"

She took the stairs as if she were certain anyway, and the others followed Surely enough, the small door at the bottom let out into the dusty yard of the South Stable, where novices’ horses were kept, for those who had theenerally not until they beca bulk of the Tower itself rose behind theood her than some city walls

Nynaeve strode into the stable as if she owned it It had a clean s rows of stalls ran back into shadows barred with light froy Bela and Nynaeve’s gray mare stood in stalls near the doors Bela put her nose over the stall door and whickered softly to Egwene There was only one grooray in his beard, chewing a straw

"We will have our horses saddled," Nynaeve told hi tone "Those two Min, find your horse and Elayne’s" Min dropped the saddlebags and drew Elayne deeper into the stables

The stableman frowned after them and slowly took the straw from his mouth "There must be some mistake, my Lady Those ani her ar was obvious "You will saddle thewene held her breath; it was a lastditch plan, that Nynaeve would try to pass as an Aes Sedai if they had difficulties with anyone who ht actually accept her as one No Aes Sedai or Accepted would, of course, and probably not even a novice, but a stable, then at her "I was told two," he said at last, sounding unimpressed "One of the Accepted and a novice Wasn’t nothing said about four of you"

Egwene felt like laughing Of course Liandrin would not have believed theet their horses by themselves

Nynaeve looked disappointed, and her voice sharpened "You trot those horses out and saddle the, if she will give it to you"

The groom mouthed Liandrin’s name, but one look at Nynaeve’s face and he saw to the horses with no h for any but himself to hear Min and Elayne ca the second girth Min’s was a tall dustcolored gelding, Elayne’s a bay mare with an arched neck

When they were ain "No doubt you were told to keep this quiet, and that hasn’t changed whether we are two or two hundred If you think it has, think about what Liandrin will do if you talk what you were told to keep quiet"

As they were riding out, Elayne tossed hioodwene’s eye and smiled "Mother says a stick and honey alork better than a stick alone"

"I hope we don’t need either with the guards," Egwene said "I hope Liandrin spoke to the the tall south wall of the Tower grounds, there was no telling if anyone had spoken to the guards or not They waved the four wolance and a cursory bow Guards were erous; apparently these had no orders about keeping anyone in

A cool river breeze gave them an excuse to pull up the hoods of their cloaks as they rode slowly through the streets of the city The ring of their horses’ hooves on the paving stones was lost in thethe streets and the s they passed People dressed in garments from every land, froht, brilliant colors of the Traveling People, and every style in between, split around the horsewomen like a river around a rock, but they still could not ave no attention to the fabulous toith their skyborne bridges or the buildings that lookedwaves, or windsculpted cliffs, or fanciful shells, than anything made from stone Aes Sedai often went into the city, and in that crowd they could come facetoface with one before they knew it After a ti as close a watch as she, but she still felt limmer of relief when the O