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"Let hie, she repeated herself, even more firmly They did move aside then, slowly, as h neither said a word, there was an air of et the Shienarans She suspected that believing so would be a mistake; the topknotted men plainly did not

Aside froine a ht then, but with that face in front of her, she was all too conscious of her own, breathing, her own heartbeat It was ludicrous Why could the ly? Or at least plain

"You knew I knew that you were following" Accusation rang strongly in her voice, though she was not sure what she was accusing hiined ruefully

"I assunized you, Nynaeve I reenerally see more than you let on"

She would not let hiotten her with Valan Luca "What are you doing in Ghealdan? I thought you were on your way to Altara"

For a moment he stared down at her with those dark, beautiful eyes, then abruptly laughed "In all the world, Nynaeve, only you would askyou Very well I’ll answer you, for all it should be the other way round I did have orders for Salidar, in Altara, but all changed when this Prophet fellow -- What is the matter? Are you unwell?"

Nynaeve forced her face to smoothness "Of course not," she said irritably "My health is quite good, thank you very kindly" Salidar! Of course! The na off in her head All of that racking of her brain, and Galad casually handed her what she had been unable to dig up on her own Now if only Masema found a ship quickly If only she couldUno and Ragan kill him, of course

Whatever Elayne said, Nynaeve could not believe she would appreciate having her brother cut down Small chance he would believe Elayne was not with her "I just cannot get overyou"

"A small patch on mine, when I learned you had slipped out of Sienda" Sternness becaree, but his tone offset it Soirl who had sneaked out of the house after her bedtime to climb trees "I was sick near to death orry What under the Light possessed you? Have you any idea of the risks you ran? And to come here, of all places Elayne always chooses to saddle a horse at the gallop if she can, but I thought that you, at least, hadthe other two rounded his swordpoint, scarred hands folded atop the poe to the exclusion of everything else

"I have heard rumors," Galad went on slowly, "that he is Shienaran You cannot have been witless enough to get yourself mixed up with him" There was too much question in that for her taste by far

"Neither of them is the Prophet, Galad," she said wryly "I’ve known them both for soan, unless you intend to prune your toenails, put those things up Well?" They hesitated before doing as they were told, Uno gru, but they did it finally Men usually responded to a firht they were, Nynaeve" Galad’s tone, even more arid than hers, made her bristle, but when he went on, he sounded annoyed rather than superior And worried Which ave her palpitations, and he had the nerve to be worried "I do not knohat you and Elayne have fallen into here, and I do not care, so long as I can extract you from it before you are hurt Trade is slow on the, river, but a suitable boat of some sort should call in the next few days Let e to somewhere in Altara Froaped in spite of herself "You mean to find us a ship?"

"It is all I can do, now" He sounded apologetic, and shook his head as if arguing with himself "I cannot escort you to safety; my duty is here"

"We wouldn’t want to take you from your duty," she said, a touch breathless If he wanted to misunderstand, let him The most she had hoped for was that he would leave them be

He seemed to feel the need to defend himself "It is hardly safe to send you off alone, but a boat will take you away before the entire border explodes Which it will, soon or late; all it needs is one spark, and the Prophet is sure to strike it if no one else does Youyourselves to Caemlyn, you and Elayne All I ask is your proo there The Tower is no place for either of you Or for --" He claone ahead and na for a boat too If Maseet whether he intended to close the taverns, he could forget to have anyone find a riverboat Especially if he thought a convenient bout of forgetfulness ht keep her there to further his own plans It could not hurt -- if she could trust Galad If she could not, then she would have to hope he was not as good with that sword as he thought he was A stark thought, but not so stark as what ht happen -- would happen -- if he proved untrustworthy

"I a around Maseue A little White Tower sidestepping was as close as she could come "And you are what you are, now" She raised her eyebrows significantly at his white cloak "That lot hates the Tower, and they hate women who can channel Now that you are one of them, why shouldn’t I think there will be fifty of you afterto put an arrow in my back if they can’t haul me off to a cell? Me, and Elayne as well"

Galad’s head jerked in irritation Or maybe he was offended "How often must I tell you? I would never let har, realizing that she was annoyed at the pause that ht She was not soirl, to lose her wits because aand incredibly penetrating at the same time "If you say it so," she told him,