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There was no order anywhere Elaida was surprised they would bring it up

"Only a ru the fringe on her shaas finely cut and scooped low at the neck Often Elaida thought the woman should have been Green, so concerned was she with her looks and clothes "Al those who ht send news The Panarch Amathera has apparently vanished, and it seems an Aes Sedai htened on her stole Nothing touched her face, but her eyes smoldered The matter of the Saldaean army was done At least Memara was Red; that was a surprise But they had not even asked her opinion It was done The startling possibility that an Aes Sedai was involved in the disappearance of the Panarch -- if this was not another of the thousand improbable tales that drifted from the western coast -- could not take Elaida’s mind from that There were Aes Sedai scattered from the Aryth Ocean to the Spine of the World, and the Blues at leastLess than two months since they had all knelt to swear fealty to her as the embodiment of the White Tower, and now the decision was lance in her direction

The Amyrlin’s study sat only a few levels up in the White Tower, yet this room was the heart of the Tower as surely as the Tower itself, the color of bleached bone, was the heart of the great island city of Tar Valon, cradled in the River Erinin And Tar Valon was, or should be, the heart of the world The roo line of women who had occupied it, floor of polished redstone froolden Kandori marble, walls paneled in pale, oddly striped wood marvelously carved with unknown birds and beastspearls framed the tall, arched s that let onto the balcony overlooking the Aarden, the only stone like it known, salvaged fro the Breaking of the World A room of power, a reflection of A for nearly three thousand years And they did not even ask her opinion

It happened too often, this slighting Worst -- most bitter of all, perhaps -- they usurped her authority without even thinking of it They kne she had come to the stole, knew their aid had put it on her shoulders She herself had been too much aware of that But they presu about that But not quite yet

She had put her own sta table ornately carved in triplelinked rings and a heavy chair that raised an inlaid ivory Flae snowy teardrop Three boxes of Altaran lacquerere arranged on the table, precisely equidistant from each other; one held the finest of her collection of carved ainst one wall held red roses that filled the roorance There had been no rain since she was raised, but fine blossoms were always available with the Power; she had always liked flowers They could be so easily pruned and trained to produce beauty

Two paintings hung where, seated, she could see the at the all the Aes Sedai who calanced at them

"Is there any news of Elayne?" Andaya asked diffidently A thin, birdlike little woman, outwardly timid despite Aes Sedai features, the second Gray looked an unlikely mediator, but was in fact one of the best There were still faint traces of Tarabon in her voice "Or Galad? If Morgase discovers that we have lost her stepson, shethe whereabouts of her daughter, yes? And if she learns we have lost the DaughterHeir, Andor may become as closed to us as Amadicia"

A feomen shook their heads -- there was no news, and Javindhra said, "A Red sister is in place in the Royal Palace Newly raised, so she can easily pass for other than Aes Sedai" She elessness that cae of any woe of twenty years, and in some cases would be off by twice that "She is well trained, though, quite strong, and a good observer Morgase is absorbed in putting forward her claim to the Cairhienin throne" Several wo she had stepped close to dangerous ground, Javindhra hurried on "And her new lover, Lord Gaebril, see her occupied otherwise" Her thin mouth narrowed even further "She is completely besotted with the man"

"He keeps her concentrated on Cairhien," Alviarin said "The situation there is nearly as bad as in Tarabon and Arad Do for the Sun Throne, and faase will reestablish order, but it will take time for her to have the throne secure Until that is done, she will have little energy left to worry about other hterHeir And I set a clerk the task of sending occasional letters; the woase will keep until we can secure proper control of her again"

"At least we still have her son in hand" Joline smiled

"Gawyn do hardly be in hand," Teslyn said sharply "Those Younglings of his do skirmish with Whitecloaks on both sides of the river He does act on his own as ht under control," Alviarin said Elaida was beginning to find that constant cool co of the Whitecloaks," Danelle put in, "it appears that Pedron Niall is conducting secret negotiations, trying to convince Altara and Murandy to cede land to Illian, and thus keep the Council of Nine fro one or both"

Safely back from the precipice, the wo whether the Lord Captain Coain too ht Perhaps they should be disrupted so the Tower could step in and replace him

Elaida’s mouth twisted The Tower had often in its history been cautious of necessity -- too many feared them, tooor anyone Now, it feared

She raised her eyes to the paintings One consisted of three wooden panels depicting Bonwhin, the last Red to have been raised to the Amyrlin Seat, a thousand years before, and the reason no Red had worn the stole since Until Elaida Bonwhin, tall and proud, ordering Aes Sedai in their ; Bonwhin, defiant, on the white walls of Tar Valon, under siege by Haing’s forces; and Bonwhin, kneeling and humbled, before the Hall of the Tower as they stripped her of stole and staff for ne