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"He belongs to Elayne," Aviendha said fiercely

"I admit I don’t know your customs fully, but ours are not the same as yours He is not betrothed to Elayne" Why aht to be switched! But honesty ht to say no, if they’re asked"

"You and she are nearsisters, as you and I are," Aviendha protested, slowing a step before picking it up again "Did you not ask me to look after him for her? Do you not want her to have him?"

"Of course I do If he wants her" That was not exactly true She wanted Elayne to have what happiness she could, in love with the Dragon Reborn as she was, and she would do everything short of tying Rand hand and foot to see that Elayne got what she wanted Maybe not far short, at that, if need be Ad Aiel women were far more forward than she could ever ht, otherwise"

"He belongs to her," Aviendha said deterhed Aviendha simply did not want to understand any customs but her own The Aiel woman was still shocked that Elayne would not ask Rand to marry her, that a man could ask that question "I’m sure the Wise Ones will listen to reason tomorrow They can’t make you sleep in a man’s bedchamber"

The other worace left her, and she stubbed a toe on the uneven ground; the ht a few curses that would have on drivers listen with interest -- and made Bair reach for the bluespine -- but she did not stop running "I do not understand why that upsets you so," she said when the last curse died "I have slept next to ablankets for warht was very cold, but it disturbs you that I will sleep within ten feet of him Is this part of your customs? I have noticed you will not bathe in the sweat tent with men Do you not trust Rand al’Thor? Or is it me you do not trust?" Her voice had sunk to a concerned whisper by the end

"Of course I trust you," Egwene protested heatedly "And hio on Aiel notions of propriety were sorown up with, but in other ways they would have had the Wo to decide whether to faint or reach for a stout stick "Aviendha, if your honor is involved soround "Surely if you explain to the Wise Ones, they will notto explain," the other woman said flatly

"I know I don’t understand ji’e’toh" Egwene began, and Aviendha laughed

"You say you do not understand, Aes Sedai, yet you show that you live by it" Egwene regretted et Aviendha to call her siwene, and sometimes she slipped back -- but it had to be kept with everyone if it was to hold with anyone "You are Aes Sedai, and strong enough in the Power to overcoether," Aviendha continued, "but you said that you would obey, so you scrub pots when they say scrub pots, and you run when they say run You may not know ji’e’toh, but you follow it"

It was not the saritted her teeth and did as she was told because that was the only way to learn drea, ine To even think that she could live by this foolish ji’e’toh was simply silly She did what she had to do, and only when and because she had to

They were coun As her foot hit the spot, Egwene said, "That’s one," and ran on through the darkness with no one to see but Aviendha, no one to say whether she went back to her tent right then Aviendha would not have told, but it never occurred to Egwene to stop short of the fifty

Chapter 6

(Crescent Moon and Stars)

Gateways

Rand woke in total darkness and lay there beneath his blankets trying to think of what had wakened hi Aviendha how to swim, in a pond in the Waterwood back hoain, like a faint whiff of a foulunder the door Not a smell at all, really; a sense of otherness, but that was how it felt Rank, like soain, but not all the way this ti himself in saidin Inside the Void, filled with the Power, he could feel his body shiver, but the cold seemed in another place from where he was Cautiously he pulled open the door and stepped out Arched s at either end of the corridor let in falls of ht After the pitch black of his roocloser Soh him on the Power

One hand went to his coat pocket, to the s a sword across his knees An angreal; with that he could channel more of the Power than even he could safely handle unaided He thought it would not be necessary Whoever had sent this attack against hi with, now They should never have let hiht to whatever had been sent against hiht it was still below hi, by the silence With luck, it would not bother them, unless he rushed down to battle it in their midst That would surely wake them, and they would not stand by and watch Lan said that you should choose your ground, if you could, and , he raced the thud of his boots up the nearest curving stairway, on upward, until he reached the top floor The highest level of the building was one large cha and scattered thin columns fluted in spirals Glassless arched s all around flooded every corner with rit and sand on the floor still faintly showed his own footprints, from the one time he had co to the center of the room, he planted himself atop the mosaic there, the ancient symbol of the Aes Sedai, ten feet across It was an apt place "Under this sign will he conquer" That hat the Prophecy of Rhuidean said of hi line, one boot on the black teardrop that was now called the Dragon’s Fang and used to represent evil, the other on the white now called the Flaht An appropriate place to meet this attack, b