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Suddenly he flung the quiver away, spreading his arlad cry "Not knives! Arrows! Froainst Elayne as the man explained what he wanted, but sheh, but Juilin had to snag Latelle’s arry words before she dug coins from her pouch So that hat they had been up to She would have to speak to theh with this" The woer?" Birgitte said when Luca ran out of wind He grimaced, then fished slowly into his pouch and tossed her a coin Elayne caught the glint of gold in the sun as Birgitte exaht back "The bet was a silver penny on your part"

Luca’s eyes widened in startleold crown into her hand "You are worth every copper of it What do you say? Why, the Queen of Ghealdan herself itte and her arrows We will paint theitte to look at her They hedien as do what the itte only bounced the coin on her hand, grinning "Paint will ruin an already shabby bow," she said finally "And callon the bow, she let her smile widen "Can I have a red dress, too?"

Elayne heaved a sigh of fervent relief Nynaeve looked as if she were going to sick up

Chapter 37

(Lion Rampant)

Performances in Samara

For what seemed the hundredth tihed Thick hter from hundreds if not thousands of throats, distant on walls She had not h the streets of Sah the s had convinced her that she would just as soon not be put in those packed crowds, yelling and barely ons -- but every time she looked at the brassy red of her hair, she wished she had been doing so it

Carefully not looking at herself, she wrapped up coave a start to find Birgitte standing in the doorway The wo the parade, with Clarine altering a spare red dress she had been iven Clarine her instructions before Nynaeve ever agreed Birgitte wore it now, her blackdyed braid pulled over her shoulder so it nestled between her breasts, totally unconscious of the low square neck Just looking at her itte could not show a fingernail htest claim to decency As it was, such a clai at her made Nynaeve’s stomach knot up, but not for reasons of clothes or skin

"If you are going to wear the dress, why cover up?" Birgitte came inside and closed the door behind her "You are a woman Why not be proud of it?"

"If you think I shouldn’t," Nynaeve replied hesitantly, and slowly let the shawl slide down to her elbows, revealing the twin of the other woht I thought" Gripping her silk skirts hard to keep her hands at her sides, she held her gaze on the other wo she wore exactly the sarimaced "And if I wanted you to lower the neck another inch?"

Nynaeve opened her own, but for acaled "There isn’t an inch to lower it Look at your own There isn’t a tenth!"

Three quick, frowning strides, and Birgitte bent slightly to put her face right in Nynaeve’s "And if I said I wanted you to rid yourself of that inch?" she snarled, showing teeth "What if I wanted to paint your face, so Luca could have his fool? What if I stripped you out of it altogether and painted you froet you would make then Every man inside fifty miles would come to see"

Nynaeve’s ed at all She wanted very much to close her eyes;

With a disgusted shake of her head, Birgitte took a seat on one of the beds, one elbow on her knee and her blue eyes sharp "This must stop When I look at you, you flinch You run about waiting on lance for a stool, you fetch one If I lick my lips, you have a cup of wine in my hands before I know I am thirsty You would wash my back and put the slippers on my feet if I let you I am neitherto an timidly, and ju to make me less!"

"No No, it is not that, truly I am to blaitte broke in fiercely "I chose to speak to you in Tel’aran’rhiod I chose to help you I chose to track Moghedien And I chose to take you to see her Me! Not you, Nynaeve, me! I was not your puppet, your pack hound, then, and I will not be now"

Nynaeve sed hard and gripped her skirts ry with this woht "You did what I asked It is my fault that you that you are here It is all my fault!"

"Have I irls take blame where there is none, and you are neither"

"It was ain, and my cowardice that let her that let her If I had not been so afraid I could not spit, I itte’s eyes widened, openly incredulous, and scorn touched her voice "You? I thought you had more sense than to confuse fear with cowardice You could have fled Tel’aran’rhiod when Moghedien released you, but you stayed to fight No fault or bla a deep breath, she rubbed her forehead for a ain "Listen to me close, Nynaeve I take no blame for as done to you I saw, but I could not twitch Had Moghedien tied you into a knot or cored you like an apple, still I would take no blame I did what I could, when I could An