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They discussed it in the dark for hours without co to any conclusion Asmodean held to the opinion that it had been one of the others, hoping to send Rand against Saet rid of one or both; at least, Asmodean said that he did Rand could feel theThat slip had been too big to cover

When he finally returned to his own tent, Adelin and the dozen Maidens all sprang to their feet; all of the asleep, that she was angry with hiave sothe toer, all at the same time, that he could understand none of it Finally they fell silent, looks passing between theht Of e did, and e failed to do We --"

"It was nothing," he told her, "and if it was sootten I would like to have a few hours’ sleep for once If you want to discuss it go talk to Amys or Bair I am sure they’ll understand what you’re after ly, and let hiet inside

Aviendha was in her blankets, with one sli out He tried not to look at it, or her She had left a laratefully and channeled the la saidin This ti fire, only she was not hurling it at a Draghkar, and Saon)

"The Fifth, I Give You"

Reining Mist around on a grassy hilltop, Egatched the streaai Pass The saddle had pushed her skirts above her knees again, but she hardly noticed that now She could not spend every s; it was not as though she were barelegged

In trotting colued by clan and sept and society Thousands upon thousands, with their packhorses and ai’shain ould tend the ca a ht ahead Even without families, it seemed a nation on the march The Silk Path had been a road here, a full fifty paces wide and paved with broad white stones, slicing straight through hills carved to h the rass, butstones had lifted up at a corner or sunk down at one end More than twenty years had gone by since this road had carried ons

It was startling to see trees again, real trees, towering oaks and leatherleaf in actual thickets rather than an occasional isted, stunted shape, and tall grass waving in the breeze across the hills There was real forest to the north, and clouds in the sky, thin and high, yet clouds The air seeh brown leaves and large broaths through the grass told her that in reality it ht be hotter and drier than usual for the time of year Still, the countryside of Cairhien was a lush paradise coonwall

A se, bordered by the dried clay of a broader bed; the River Gaelin lay not too many miles away in that direction She wondered what the Aiel would make of that river; she had seen Aiel near a river once before The shrunken band of water marked a definite break in the steady flow of people, asacross

Kadere’s wagons ru hard, but still losing ground to the Aiel It had taken four days to traverse the twists and turns of the pass, and Rand apparently intended to go as far into Cairhien as he could in the few hours of daylight reons; not ahead of them, or even with Kadere’s boxlike little white house on wheels, but alongside the second wagon, where the canvascovered shape of the doorfrareal made a hump above the rest of the load Some of the load rapped carefully or packed in boxes or barrels that Kadere had brought into the Waste full of his goods, and some was silass, a red crystal chair, two childsized statues of a nude e black ths and thicknesses All sorts of things, including soin to describe Moiraine had used every inch of space in all of the wagons

Egished that she knehy the Aes Sedai was so concerned with that particular wagon; perhaps no one else had noticed that Moiraine paid it more attention than all the others combined, but she had Not that she was likely to find out any time soon Her newfound equality with Moiraine was a tender thing, as she had learned when she asked that question, in the heart of the pass, and was told that her iination was too vivid and if she had time to spy on the Aes Sedai, perhaps Moiraine should speak to the Wise Ones about intensifying her training She had apologized profusely, of course, and the soft words see any hts than they had before

A hundred or so Taardad Far Dareis Mai went trotting by on her side of the road,but ready to be donned, full quivers at hips Some carried their curved horn bows, arrows nocked, while others had their bows cased on their backs, spears and bucklers swinging rhythai’shain in their white robes leading pack led to keep up One wore black, not white; Isendre labored hardest of all Egwene could pick Adelin out, and two or three others who had been guarding Rand’s tent the night of the attack Each clutched a doll in addition to her weapons, a roughmade doll clothed in full skirts and white blouse; they looked evento pretend that they held no such thing

She was not sure what that was about The Maidens who stood that guard had coroup to see Bair and A ti in the grayness before dawn, they had begunthose dolls She had not been able to ask, of course, but she had commented on it to one, a redhaired Tomanelle of the Serai sept named Maira, and the woman said it was to remind her that she was not a child Her tone made it clear that she did not want to talk One of the Maidens carrying a doll was no more than sixteen, yet Maira was at least as old as Adelin It wene thought she understood Aiel ways, so demo