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The knock sounded again before he could make himself push away saidin and haul open the door

Enaila peered past hiht perhaps Isendre" She gave hi everywhere for you No one saw you return" With a shake of her head, she straightened; she always tried to stand as tall as possible "The chiefs have come to speak with the Car’a’carn," she said formally "They wait below"

They waited on the colu limmers of dawn lined the mountains to the east If they felt any impatience with the two Maidens who stood between them and the tall doors, it did not show on their shadowed faces

"The Shaido are ," Han barked as soon as Rand appeared "And the Reyn, the Miago Couladin, or ai Pass," Rhuarc said "For the others, it is too early to tell But they are on the march with every spear not needed to defend the holds, herds and flocks"

Rand only nodded All of his determination not to let anyone else dictate what he would do, and now this Whatever the other clans intended, Couladin had to plan a crossing into Cairhien Sopeace, if the Shaido ravaged Cairhien even further while he sat in Rhuidean waiting for the other clans

"Then we ai, too," he said finally

"We cannot catch him if he means to cross," Erim cautioned, and Han added sourly, "If any of the others are joining hi out like blindworms in the sun"

"I won’t sit here until I find out," Rand said "If I can’t catch Couladin, I ht behind him into Cairhien Rouse the spears We leave as soon after first light as you canhim that odd Aiel bow used only on the most formal occasions, one foot forward and one hand extended, the chiefs departed Only Han said anything "To Shayol Ghul itself"

Chapter 7

(Dragon)

A Departure

Yawning in the earlycolored mare, then had to handle her reins smartly as Mist frisked about The animal had not been ridden in weeks Aiel not only preferred their own legs, they avoided riding alh they did use packhorses and pack ons, the terrain in the Waste was not hospitable to wheels, as more than one peddler had learned to his or her sorrow

She was not looking forward to the long journey west The row by the hour once it climbed clear, and there would be no convenient tent to duck into at nightfall She was not certain that Aiel garb was suitable for riding, either The shaorn over her head, always did a surprisingly good job of keeping the sun off, but those bulky skirts would bare her legs to the thigh if she was not careful Blisters worried her as much as modesty The sun on one side, and A month out of the saddle should not have softened her thatjourney

Once she had settled Mist down, Egwene found A at her, and shared a sht before was not the reason she was still sleepy; if anything, it had helped her sleep even more soundly She had found the other woht, and in celebration they had sipped tea in the drea when children were playing a the cropplanted terraces and a pleasant breeze blen the valley as the sun sank

Of course, that would not have been enough to steal her rest, but she had been so exultant that when she left Amys’ dreams, she did not stop; she could not, not then, no matter what Ah with most she had no idea whose they were Witha babe at her breast, and Bair of one of her dead husbands, both of the and yellowhaired She had been especially careful not to enter those; the Wise Ones would have known an intruder in an instant, and she shuddered to think of what they would have done before letting her go

Rand’s dreae, of course, one she could not fail to face Now that she could flit from dream to dream, how could she not try where the Wise Ones failed? Only, atte into an invisible stone wall She knew that his dreams lay on the other side, and she was sure she could find a way through, but there had been nothing to work on, nothing to pry at A wall of nothing It was a problem she meant to worry at until she solved it Once she put her er

All around her gai’shain were bustling about, loading the Wise Ones’ ca, only an Aiel or so would be able to tell there had ever been tents on that patch of hard clay The sa mountain slopes, and the hubbub extended into the city, as well Not everyone would be going, but thousands would Aiel thronged the streets, and Master Kadere’s train of wagons stood strung out across the great plaza, laden with Moiraine’s selections, the three whitepainted water wagons at the end of the line like huge barrels on wheels behind twentyon, at the head of the column, was a little white house on wheels, with steps at the back and aout of the flat roof The thick, hawknosed ruously battered hat as she rode past, his dark, tilted eyes not sharing in the wide snored him frostily His dreams had been decidedly dark and unpleasant, where they were not lewd as well He ought to have his head dunked in a cask of bluespine tea, she thought gri the Roof of the Maidens, she threaded her way through scurrying gai’shain and patiently standingthe Maidens’ things wore a black robe, not white A woht of a cordtied bundle on her back Bending as she guided Mist past, to get a look inside the woard face, sweat already rolling down her cheeks She was glad the Maidens had stopped letting the wo her out -- more naked than not, but it did see so hard already, she would nearly die once the