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She forced herself to go on, though the words curdled in her hters" Sheave way, and she sat down hard on the floor Some of the others appeared to have weak knees as well Elaida’s eyes flogged them with scorn "There can be no doubt of it He is the one spoken of in the Prophecies The Dark One is breaking free of his prison, the Last Battle is coon Reborn must be there to face hi as the Wheel of Tihters We do not knohere he is We know a dozen places he is not He is no longer in Tear He is not here in the Tower, safely shielded, as he should be He brings the ind down on the world, and weTarhts in the Last Battle Or do any of you believe he will go willingly to his prophesied death to save the world? Amad already? We an with that irritating lack of e our hands on Rand al’Thor is more iht is quiet,Elayne or Galad, more important even than Mazrim Taim You will find him You will! When next I see you, each of you will be ready to tell me in detail what you have done to hters"

A ripple of unsteady curtsies, breathy murmurs of "As you co She to her feet The Yellow sister would do nicely for the next example; some would be necessary, to make sure none of them slid back, and she was too weak to be allowed in this council Of course, this council would not be allowed to continue er in any case The Hall would hear her words, and leap

All save Alviarin went

For a long moment after the door had closed behind the others, the tomen met each other’s eyes Alviarin had been the first, the very first, to hear and agree with the charges against Elaida’s predecessor And Alviarin knew full hy she wore the Keeper’s stole instead of someone from the Red The Red Ajah had favored Elaida unanimously, but the White had not done so, and without wholehearted support froht not have come round, in which case Elaida would have been in a cell instead of sitting on the Amyrlin Seat That is, if the re a spike for the ravens to play with Alviarin would not be so easily intimidated as the others If she could be inti feel of equaltoequal in Alviarin’s unwavering gaze

A tap at the door sounded loud in the quiet

"Coirl, stepped hesitantly into the room and immediately dropped a curtsy so low her white skirt with its seven bands of color at the hem made a wide pool around her on the floor From the wideness of her blue eyes and the way she kept the Where Aes Sedai left shaking, an Accepted went at great peril "MMother, Master FFain is here He said you ould see hiirl swayed in her crouch, on the point of falling over fro hiirl’s hide if she had not kept the er she held back from Alviarin -- she would not let herself think that she did not dare show it -- that anger welled up "And if you cannot learn to speak properly, perhaps the kitchens are a better place for you than the A to do as you were told? Move, girl! And tell the Mistress of Novices you need to be taught to obey with alacrity!"

The girl squeaked soht have been a correct response and darted out

With an effort, Elaida got hold of herself It did not concern her whether Silviana, the new Mistress of Novices, beat the girl to incoherence or let her off with a lecture She barely saw novices or Accepted unless they intruded on her, and cared less It was Alviarin she wanted huer against her lips A bony littlenose, who had appeared at the Tower only days earlier in dirty, oncefine clothes too big for hi audience with the Amyrlin Except for those who served the Tower, reat need, and none asked to speak to the Amyrlin A fool, in soard, in Murandy, but spoke in various accents, so froht be useful

Alviarin was still looking at her, so icily complacent, just a hint in her eyes of the questions she must have about Fain Elaida’s face hardened Almost she reached for saidar, the female half of the True Source, to teach the woman her place with the Power But that was not the way Alviarin irl in a stableyard was no method for the Amyrlin to make her authority plain Yet Alviarin would learn to yield to her as surely as the others would The first step would be leaving Alviarin in the dark concerning Master Fain, or whatever his real na Accepted out of his mind as he stepped into the Amyrlin’s study; she was a toothso like birds in the hand, but there werehis hands, he ducked his head suitably low, suitably hu him seemed unaware of his presence at first, locked eyetoeye as they were It was all he could do not to stretch out a hand to caress the tension between theh the White Tower All to the good Tension could be tweaked, division exploited, as need be

He had been surprised to find Elaida on the Ah In h, he had heard, as the woman who had worn the stole before her Harder, yes, and more cruel, but more brittle, too More difficult to bend, likely, but easier to break If either became necessary Still, one Aes Sedai, one Aerous fools, true, but useful dupes at times

Finally they realized he was there, the A taken by surprise, the Keeper of the Chronicles unchanging "You ht but definite emphasis on "now" Oh, yes The tensions, the cracks in power Cracks where seeds could be planted Fain caught himself